What can be used instead of food desert?

There's a new word on the street these days: food apartheid. Many argue it's more accurate to discuss areas lacking in fresh produce, grocery stores, and affordable healthy food options as such, rather than as food deserts.

What can you say instead of food deserts?

People who work in public health have come up with another term for areas with easier access to fast food and junk food than to healthier food: “food swamps.” Rather than simply building grocery stores, some of these communities need stable jobs and a livable wage to change their access to healthier food.

What qualifies as a food desert?

“Food deserts” are geographic areas where access to affordable, healthy food options (aka fresh fruits and veggies) is limited or nonexistent because grocery stores are too far away. Run a food drive (outside your local grocery store!) to support a food bank. Sign up for Supermarket Stakeout.

How can we solve the problem of food deserts?

Why has the term food desert been criticized?

Some critics argue that it's downright inaccurate; deserts are naturally occurring ecosystems, they say, while food deserts are created with intentionality by public policy and economic practices, as Detroit food activist Malik Yakini put it in an interview for the T.

Why These Activists Use the Term 'Food Apartheid' Instead of 'Food Desert' | NBCLX

Does the USDA use the term food desert?

In the Food Desert Locator developed by USDA's Economic Research Service, a food desert census tract is defined as a low-income tract where a substantial number or substantial share of residents does not have easy access to a supermarket or large grocery store.

What is the difference between a food desert and a food swamp?

In food deserts, interventions aim to increase access to healthy foods, whereas in food swamps, the goal is to reduce the availability of or exposure to less healthy foods.

Are food deserts improving?

In its most recent 2017 report, the USDA's Economic Research Service determined that the number of census tracts that met the classification of “low access” had declined measurably since 2010, indicating a general improvement in the proximity of supermarkets to residents across the country (Rhone et al., 2017).

How do you fight food apartheid?

Advocate for legislation that will eliminate food apartheid by reforming labor laws and providing a living wage for farmers of color. You can also encourage farmers you know to join the Domestic Fair Trade Association, which works toward fair labor standards in agriculture.

What is the problem with food deserts?

Food deserts are areas where people are unable to gain access to healthful foods. They are a major issue affecting millions of people in the U.S. and around the globe. Experts suggest that living in a food desert may put people at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and other weight-related conditions.

How far from a grocery store is a food desert?

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food deserts as low-income census tracts with low access to healthy food, meaning residence more than 1 mile away from a grocery store or supermarket in urban areas (or 10 or 20 miles in rural areas) (1,14).

Do food deserts really exist?

However, recent research questions the concept of food deserts. For more than two decades, much evidence has supported their existence, but current studies suggest people in low-income areas actually live in food swamps, where they're inundated with a wide variety of both healthful and unhealthful foods.

What is the synonym of dessert?

What is a food mirage?

In a food mirage, grocery stores are plentiful but prices are beyond the means of low-income households, making them functionally equivalent to food deserts in that a long journey to obtain affordable, nutritious food is required in either case.

Are food deserts environmental justice?

The dependency caused by this food desert restricts the lives of those within the community and prevents communities from maintaining their independence. The experiences of people living within urban and rural food deserts establishes the pressing matter of food deserts as an environmental justice issue.

How can food sovereignty be improved?

What is swamp food?

In the United States, food swamps are defined as areas with 4 or more corner stores within 0.4 km (0.25 miles) of home or where the ratio of unhealthy to healthy food establishments exceeds 3.89 (2,3).

When did food deserts become a problem?

The term “food desert” reportedly originated in Scotland in the early 1990s and was used to describe poor access to an affordable and healthy diet (4).

How do food deserts affect education?

Food deserts also hinder academic performance. By having poor nutrition, students aren't developed properly and not prepared to perform in a high and efficient rate in school, which causes poor academic performance. Lastly, children residing in food deserts are more likely to develop type-2 diabetes.

Do food deserts cause obesity?

Study results also showed that the individuals who live in food desert are at an elevated risk for obesity. Together, these findings suggest that Americans who either do not have enough to eat or live in areas without access to stores that sell affordable nutritious foods are at greater risk for obesity.

What is a food desert 2021?

Food insecurity occurs when food is either too far away or too expensive to purchase. A food desert is one type of food insecurity. When a person lives in a food desert, this means that a supermarket is more than 1 mile away in an urban area or more than 10 miles away in a rural area.

Is food insecurity the same as food desert?

But food deserts are a red herring in terms of ending food insecurity in the United States. As the USDA stated bluntly in a 2014 study of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants: “Geographic access to food was generally not associated with the percentage of households that were food insecure.”

How can we stop food swamps?

In the long term, Cooksey Stowers said, solutions include better zoning to limit clusters of fast-food outlets, incentives to build grocery stores and farmers markets in disadvantaged areas, and even requiring convenience stores to stock a certain percentage of healthy food.

Does America have food deserts?

Twenty percent of rural areas in the U.S. are classified as food deserts. There are small areas within each state in the U.S. that are classified as rural food deserts, but they occur most prominently in the Midwest. Within these counties, approximately 2.4 million individuals have low access to a large supermarket.