Welcome to the food deserts of rural America

[marmar]

from Grist:



Welcome to the food deserts of rural America

by Steph Larsen
22 Jan 2011 6:00 AM


Driving down a two-lane highway in rural Nebraska last spring, I passed a Native American man riding an old bicycle toward the nearby Omaha Indian Reservation. We were at least seven miles from the nearest town, and he had four grocery bags bulging with food slung over his handlebars as he worked to climb a hill. I'll bet a week's worth of groceries that he wasn't biking for the exercise.

This is what a food desert looks like in rural America.

The term "food desert" has gained a lot of attention in the media in the last several years (much to the chagrin of people who like deserts and don't appreciate the negative connotation). I've also heard "food vacuum" and "area of low food access," but nothing gives the mental picture of what it's like to live in a place with no food like "food desert."

When most people hear "food desert," they think of places like West Oakland, Detroit, or inner-city Chicago. Personally, I think of places like Harrison, a Nebraska town of 279 people. A resident of Harrison called me for help several months ago because the owners of their local grocery store have gotten sick and need to sell or shut down. If they close, it's a 50 mile drive to the next nearest grocery store. I've had conversations with members of Native American nations who talk about driving 110 miles through a mountain pass to get to their nearest town. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/article/2011-01-21-welcome-to-the-food-deserts-of-rural-america

[salvorhardin]

1. And yet you'll find many, even here, who will deny that food deserts exist

Or they'll blame people for not being more sufficient and growing their own food.

[Lucinda]

2. Thanks for the post.

Looks like there are a few options to help fix the problem...Hopefully people will step up and find more ways to do what they can in their region.

[zappaman]

3. Miread your post

thought this was gonna be about deep-fried Twinkies.
Your topic much more interesting!

[Taitertots]

4. Food Desert or Population Desert

Also know as I don't want to live in densely populated areas, but I don't want to deal with the obvious results.

[Coyote_Bandit]

7. And then there are those

who are born and reared in those deserts without the opportunity to obtain the skills or education - much less the financial resources - to escape and be self-sufficient in one of those densley populated areas.

You seem to imply that everyone who lives in one of these deserts chooses to do so because they think it is some sort of idyllic paradise. I would seem that you don't have any personal experience regarding the challenges of residing in or escaping from such an area.

[Taitertots]

8. There is limited food because there are few people

There is limited food in the inner city because poverty is so pandemic that food supply companies have fled the area.

"without the opportunity to obtain the skills or education"
Anyone who gets good grades in high schools can apply for Federal Student Aid. They have just as much opportunity to attend college as anyone else.

[Coyote_Bandit]

10. .

Perhaps you should read a bit abour rural poverty. Here's one link to start:
http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/dispatch/pov_myths.htm

[Taitertots]

14. None of those are going to cause people to build grocery stores in areas that are sparsely populated

Myth #1- The rate of poverty is higher in the inner city. They said it. "poverty rates are highest in inner cities".

They are refusing to make the distinction between inner city areas and areas suburban wealth. The Detroit poverty level is over 30% more than double the rates your website list for rural areas in North Carolina. In fact, in Detroit the number of people living below 50% of the poverty line is still greater than the poverty rate listed by your source website for North Carolina Rural Residents.

[Maine_Nurse]

13. Just because you can get financial aid

doesn't mean you can attend college.

[Taitertots]

17. Yeah, it takes a great deal of work, sacrifice, risk, and commitment

There is a difference between being not able to do something and being unwilling to bear the costs of doing something.

It isn't going to be easy, but it is certainly possible.

[Maine_Nurse]

19. No, not always

Financial aid doesn't often cover the full cost of attendance, at least here, even with a $0 EFC. The university I attended is running about $5k per semester (state university). Room and board for on-campus runs about the same amount. Schools here have severely tightened the purse strings even with loans. The town the school is in does have public transport, but it only covers there and 3 surrounding towns. Makes it hard for some students to even get there if they try to live at home to afford school.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

24. Parts of LA have no food infrastructure after the riots

[WinkyDink]

5. America: Greatest Country in the World! The Bushes (including the evil Bar) and Cheney should be put

in that area.

[hedgehog]

6. These days i drive 10 miles past several other grocery stores

to get to the store that carries organic produce and grass fed beef. The store is huuuuge, but I do 95% of my shopping in the produce section and from the three or four short aisles in the organic section.

[Maine_Nurse]

12. I drive almost 30 to get to the first grocery store

then another 15 to get to a town with more than one. It's not a big deal to me, but there are quite a few people in my town with no transportation or limited funds for gas (elderly, disabled, single moms, etc). We do have a gas station that sells some foods. So we have people going there and spending their SNAP funds (formerly foodstamps) or limited incomes buying milk that is $2.00 per gallon higher or on junk foods or overpriced eggs, hotdogs, and bologna. And since >95% of this state has no public transportation, this is a tough situation to deal with for many.

[hedgehog]

20. This is an area where single payer health care might help -

I've known more than one small shop owner who closed down and took a job elsewhere to get health insurance.

As health insurance gets easier to get, we might see more people who'd like to open a small store.

We have the Independent Grocer's Association here that makes it possible for people to run a small, neighborhood store.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. I work at HUD and we are working to collaborate with USDA and other Federal agencies

to address this very issue!

Thanks so much for the article!!! I'm thrilled that there is a focus on this issue...

[bobbolink]

11. Thank you for your work on this dire situation!

:yourock:

[handmade34]

15. thanks much for posting...

I see it throughout the U.S. I would like to see a mobile grocery van in every area that doesn't have readily accessible grocery stores!

[Jkid]

16. Now that's something that is more radical than I thought.

[handmade34]

18. ok

visual - community organizing... get people in these areas together... talk planning, buy in bulk, get authorization to take food stamps, buy local, csa, community gardens, put people to work, acquire refrigerated van... not in that order but some of the parts... or maybe just inspire someone to become an entrepreneur and have his mobile grocery store as a business... lots of possibilities...

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. The entrepreneur can apply to KIVA for a loan, perhaps.

Plenty of people in other countries using KIVA for that.

[girl gone mad]

21. I love that idea.

Also low interest loans for people who want to start grocers in these communities. Isn't there a program that forgives student debt for doctors that choose to practice in underserved rural areas? Maybe something similar could be done for MBAs.

[KamaAina]

22. Some urban food deserts have these

notably New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, where what few stores there were were wiped out by Katrina. Almost as soon as people started to get back in, a guy started driving around selling produce out of the back of his pickup.