Food Desert Research Papers

Howard Husock’s report “Turning Food Deserts into Oases – Why New York’s Public Housing Should Encourage Commercial Development” was published by the Manhattan Institute and selected for this reaction paper. The report tells us about the incentives offered in New York City (NYC) to provide access to fresh food for an affordable price in low-income neighborhoods. Husock also discusses the shortage of supermarkets in NYC, New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA’s) historical anti-commercial bias, NYCHA’s food deserts, changing NYCHA food deserts into oases, and the commercial rent revenue NYCHA could make from commercial development on NYCHA property.

(Love & Das, 2016, para. 7). However, Love and Das (2016) expound on the inefficiency of this solution by stating that it “does not bridge the gaps to healthy food” because of their inability to invest in the community and understand their needs (para 12). Using vivid language throughout the article, the authors make their point emotionally impactful by emphasizing that big-chain grocery stores “lur[ed…] to the hood” leave when they no longer profit from maintaining a store in these neighborhoods (Love & Das, 2016, para. 9). Rightfully criticizing the existing solution, the authors expose the superficiality and inefficient manner of only bringing in more stores into neighborhoods. Moreover, by criticizing the superficiality of the existing solution, the authors suggest that eliminating food deserts involves a more personal investment into the betterment of the community. Overall, Love and Das permit the readers to gain an emotional insight on the impact food deserts have on low-income populations and understand the limiting nutrition conditions by appealing to

When asked about the hunger problems in America one would imagine a homeless person asking and begging for food in the streets. However, what we fail to understand is that hunger is closer to us than what we think. A fellow co-worker or perhaps even the next door neighbor may be an example of someone who suffers from food insecurity. Food insecurity is when a person does not know when or where the next meal will come from. Food insecurity is most likely to develop in food deserts, a place where there is little to no fruits, vegetables and whole healthy foods. The documentary, A Place At The Table, is attempting to shed light on the argument that many Americans suffer from food insecurity because of low income and as result those individuals face various complications.

There is currently a food desert issue in the downtown area of Greeley, Colorado. Greeley is home to 96,539 people. A staggering 21% percent of the residents live in poverty ranking it the highest in the state. The issue in Greeley is not only the amount of people that live in poverty, but those who live in a not so desirable area. Greeley is divided into three sections. On the east side is where most of the poverty is found. The middle section of the city is average or middle class and the west side of town is the high class area where the wealthiest residents live. The issue at hand is the east side of Greeley. The most recent shut down of the only grocery store on that side has left the residents in that area struggling to find adequate groceries to fill their refrigerators and cupboards. Their only way to provide for their families is the local convenience stores. There is a convenience store on just about every corner however, there are multiple problems with having the convenience. One issue is that the prices at a convenience store are substantially higher than that of a regular grocery store. Symptoms include, lack of proper amenities on the east side of town including a grocery store. Transportation to and from the closest grocery store is limited and most people have to walk to the bus stop. The other symptoms include residents with children that can only get a hot meal at school. Most are on free or reduced lunches so the parents at least know

Is Syracuse's “food desert” still a problem? Well, not so much. With a brand new supermarket people can say the city of syracuse is no longer a food desert. But this is just a start, a strong step in the right direction. Sarah Moses explains “The grocery store at 611 South Ave. will be located in an area that community leaders have called a "food desert" because of a lack of affordable grocery stores within easy walking distance for the area's many low-income residents, many of whom do not own cars.” This can force people to buy food at corner stores with high prices and no healthy options. The researchers were trying to find if ethnicity and race are active factors in how people buy food. They believed that ethnicity does have a significant role in how food is purchased. Different ethnic groups will buy different foods at different stores in different places based on their culture.

Food Deserts In Low-Income Neighborhoods A food desert is where part of an area doesn’t have fresh vegetables or fruit and other healthy foods available near them. A food desert is basically a lack of vegetables and fruit. In the article What is a food desert? by Beck Derison, she states that a food desert is determined by “Race, socio-economic standing, location, and your access to transportation”.

Those residing in food desert communities are left with a small hand full of options when they do not have a car of their own. They have no choice but to use private cars, such as taxis, or to travel several miles on foot, or use public transit to get to healthful food stores. People without cars become dependent on food sources in their nearest proximity. In rural urban food desert areas, the distance to healthful, nutritious food access is near impossible on foot. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, approximately 2.4 million families in the United States are more than a mile from a grocery store and do not have access to a vehicle. The physical distance from full service grocery stores leaves people in these food deserts to be more likely to purchase food

In South Central, Los Angeles, there is a food epidemic taking place among the population. For miles and miles, the only easily attainable food source is fast food; causing the overconsumption of un-nutritious, greasy, and fattening food. This is the problem brought to the public’s attention by speaker Ron Finley in his Ted Talks speech, “A Guerilla Gardener in South Central L.A.” Finley explains how everywhere he looks in his native South Central, all he sees are fast food chains and Dialysis clinics opened due to the lack of nutritious food. Finley views the lack of a healthy food source as a serious problem, and brings up

Food desert are urban, suburb, and rural boroughs without ready access to fresh healthy and economical food. The communities that are considered food deserts, has no grocery stores or supermarkets within a walking distance from their household. The families that live in those areas do not have access to transportation; therefore, they consume food that is accessible, which is usually processed. Most stores that people, living in a food desert, go to is convenience stores, which are usually near their households, and are accessible to some healthy foods. Another, place where many people receive their food from is fast food, and the food from those places is greasy and fattening. The lack of access to healthy food could lead to a lot of disasters,

More than 20 million people live in food deserts, areas where at least a third of the population lives more than one mile from the nearest grocery store (10 miles in rural areas). Without a supermarket in the vicinity, food desert residents must get their meals from whatever options are around—often fast-food joints and corner stores. Burger Kings and bodegas aren’t exactly hitting the highlights of the food pyramid.

Poverty is an issue that can be discussed at great lengths, but the real challenge is finding effective ways to reduce or eradicate poverty. It is important to spend quality time developing approaches to the issue of poverty and how to alleviate it. Individuals living in poverty lead a life of limited opportunities and one of these limited opportunities is access to good quality healthy food. The American Nutrition Association considers this lack of access as a Food Desert defined as, “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas” ("USDA Defines Food Deserts | American Nutrition Association," n.d.). One way in which American’s can work towards a future with less poverty and eventually one with little to no poverty would be to eliminate the existence of Food Deserts.

Food deserts are one of the biggest problems in society, as the authors of Food Justice bring up (Gottlieb & Joshi, 2010). In fact, Indianapolis is ranked worst in the nation for food deserts. So what is a food desert? A food desert is when places are left with the lack of availability of nutritious foods and high rates of poverty. Often times, these are known as grocery gaps because grocery stores move out of the area, normally located in low-income communities. It makes sense that they would move to make more profit, but it leaves those in the community left with essentially nothing. Also, most people living in a low-income community do not have access to transportation, so they cannot get to grocery stores that are outside of walking distance. This is why Gleaners, a local food justice organization, steps in and fills in places where grocery stores have left. The program that works to fix this is Mobile Pantries. As I will explore later, Mobile Pantries allows people who cannot reach grocery stores the ability to get nutritious foods they need. Mobile Pantries give people a sense of going to the grocery store and picking out healthy foods. While consumer choice is limited, as Patel mentions, Mobile Pantries still gives people healthy options (Patel, 2014). Gleaners is a part of the Food Justice Movement because while they are not changing consumer choice, they are providing individuals with the option of healthy foods and working to end hunger and obesity

Other characters that are important are Daniel, Bo and Aunt Annie. Daniel is Kate’s boyfriend, whom she is very interested in. She sees open-mindedness and a kindness soul in him, qualities, which she is lacking in herself. He reminds Kate of Matt even though she disagrees with that fact, for example she says, “But Daniel is a curious man. He shares with Matt.” (36) It is very surprising he is interested in her bitter personality and also after many times asking her to tell him about herself, but denying. He knows completely nothing of her. But, I believe he is mostly attracted to her because of her trustworthiness. Bo, the youngest sibling was only at the age of one and a half years when their parents died. But, from what I can collect

As Canada became progressively independent, as a country we went through certain events which defined us as who the majority of us are. These events, whether positive or negative have made a lasting impact on our country. Consider when the FLQ became an issue, leading into the October Crisis, the War Measures Act (temporarily) as well as the Canadian Charter Rights of Freedoms being put into place. An example of an overall, mostly positive impact was Terry Fox with the “Marathon of Hope” which he came close to completing before he unfortunately passed away.

When I was thirteen and in middle school in the year 2006 I had a good friend and she name was Ally who was also thirteen. Ally was never one to deserve the way others acted toward her. People at school bullied her, her family she has left only make it worse. To help her with the pain of her family and classmates she started to volunteer. Ally gave everything to the world, even her own life.