Food deserts are a reality: these are the places where it is almost impossible to buy an apple or a tomato

Sonsoles Martín

23/11/2024

TRANSLATED FROM CADENA SER WEBSITE LINK BELOW

A social reality that millions of people in the United States who live in low-income neighborhoods with small access suffer, which affects their physical and mental health

Something as basic as going to the supermarket to buy fresh products is an almost impossible task for millions of people in the United States.

Kathy Yancey lives in North Memphis, one of the poor areas of the so-called hunger capital of the United States. Hundreds of neighborhoods with a mostly black or Latino population, have to travel up to an hour and a half by bus to buy at a supermarket. Areas that we call food deserts.

In several forums, Alana Rhone, an economist at the Department of Agriculture of Joe Biden's government, addressed this issue, and in statements to Cadena SER, she referred to neighborhoods with low incomes and little access, surrounded by fast food restaurants.

Guadalupe Ramos, a sociology professor at the University of Valladolid, explains a silent social problem that has a history of racism and segregation behind it. She explains that in some places companies don’t want to invest because there is no clear economic benefit.

"The income variable is linked to race or ethnicity, and the poorest population is concentrated in those places. In the case of the United States, as we see, the American Midwest and where the distances are so huge, well, that is where they have developed the most," explains Ramos.

13 more years of life than in poor areas

Neighborhoods with low income and small access, are surrounded by fast food restaurants. Ultra-processed food stimulates the brain chemistry that makes you feel good, producing dopamine, and making the consumer want more and more. Its regular consumption is related to obesity, heart disease, or diabetes. In the richest area of Memphis, people live 13 years longer than in the poorest.

In addition to restaurants like McDonald's, these neighborhoods have nearby stores called "dollar stores," which sell very cheap products, often for a dollar or even less, like prepared soups, or snacks like cookies or chips. Most people do not have the resources to move, banks do not grant them loans, and they do not want to invest in these areas, so businesses do not either.

For decades, black people and minorities have been denied mortgage loans and have been excluded from certain neighborhoods; and the food pattern follows this line. Supermarkets follow wealthy whites, and fast food chains follow poor communities.

Around 17 million people in the United States live in low-income and low-access areas and are between one and 20 miles from the nearest supermarket.

Food deserts are a reality in states such as Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Arkansas, New York, and Alabama.