Food Deserts

The term food desert was coined in the late 1990s by policy makers to describe low-income neighborhoods with poor access to fresh and affordable food. One criterion for defining a food desert is when people have to walk more than 500 meters to a shop selling healthy food—or, expressed another way, the distance it takes a fit person to walk in 10–15 minutes. In reality, the concept extends beyond how retail geography and planning affect access to healthy food and into wider debates about social exclusion and its links to poor diet and health. A complex combination of factors has emerged that present obstacles to eating a healthy diet for those surviving on a low income.

In the 1960s, major changes in food retail systems led to the rapid growth of supermarkets in out-of-town locations, which in turn led to the decline of local shops and traditional markets that had previously supplied food locally. Deprived neighborhoods were left with a limited choice of expensive fresh fruit and vegetables in the remaining shops as they struggled to compete with supermarket pricing and a growing number of fast-food outlets.

Residents living in a so-called urban food desert, where shops selling healthy food are more than a 10-minute walk away, would not have ready access to an open-air farmers market, like this one in Detroit, Michigan

Source: iStockphoto

Studies in the United Kingdom and the United States have examined the assumed links between food retail provision and social exclusion, poor diet, and health and have sought to clarify whether food deserts actually exist and, if they do, how they can be tackled. U.K. policy has concentrated on [Page 186]retail-led interventions as a solution to the problems of food access in both urban and rural areas. However, research evidence is mixed about the benefits of supermarkets opening in deprived areas. For example, car ownership remains a key determinant in choice of food store, and carrying shopping and food storage remain barriers to accessing supermarkets for those living on low incomes. Others have looked at socioeconomic factors and food retail and have found that even when access to healthy food is good for those living on low incomes, dietary knowledge and a healthy lifestyle play a critical part in eating a healthy diet. Some initiatives are linking local health education programs and local retail regeneration to balance the benefits to health and community cohesion. For example, farmers markets are being funded in food deserts in some parts of the United States, using partnerships between community health organizations and grassroots community groups.

As governments have begun to focus on urban regeneration, there has been a renewed focus on the importance of the city center and the mix of retail provision and vibrant local neighborhoods. U.K. planning guidance has resulted in the major supermarket chains’ opening new, smaller-format stores in city and town centers, but higher pricing and limited choice of fresh produce still pose a problem for those living on low incomes. There has also been a renewed recognition of the importance of public space for community cohesion and the valuable role that traditional food markets can play in these spaces by offering opportunities for social interaction within local communities, by fostering social inclusion, and by supporting disadvantaged members of the community through the provision of low-priced food.

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