Many people don’t know that they live in a food desert.

I didn’t know I was one of those people until I learned the ‘food desert’ definition. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as (USDA, 2010):

1. Not living within 10 miles of a supermarket and/or
2. Grocery stores not carrying affordable, nutritious food and/or
3. Grocery stores not carrying nutritious food and/or
4. Lack transportation to a grocery store carrying nutritious food

A little over a half a mile radius, we had access to two liquor stores, the small local family market, and the small grocery drive-thru. The larger grocery store was about 2 miles away but did not always carry the best produce.

My favorite neighborhood store was a drive-thru. As a kid, I would take my saved coins, ride my bike to the drive-thru, and purchase my favorite candies.

As of 2010, about 24 million people live in a food desert (USDA, 2010). This number is said to have increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in low-income communities (DeWitt et al., 2020).

Increased food deserts have become a public health concern because there is a strong correlation between those who live in food deserts and increased risks of developing chronic diseases, impacting mental health.

Nutritious foods are essential in fulfilling energy needs for building body parts and regulating chemical processes. And when the diet lacks these nutrients, it can increase obesity, chronic illness, and related cognitive diseases leading to poor health (Wardlaw & Smith, 2010).

The current global food system produces enough food to feed everyone, but accessing nutritious food comes with challenges (Johnston et al., 2014). In the last 20 years, there has been an increase of work to understand food ethics, which includes sustainable farming for the environment, human rights, and the obligations for food equity (Barnhill & Doggett, 2018).

The other public health concern is that Healthcare spending due to chronic diseases and mental health conditions has estimated 86% of the nation’s $2.7 trillion annual health care expenditures (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017).

People who live with chronic diseases are vulnerable to rising out-of-pocket medical spending, requiring more doctor visits and services to treat these diseases (Paez, Ahao, & Hwang, 2009). On average, a Medicare patient suffering from one chronic disease sees four physicians a year, while those with five or more chronic diseases see as many as fourteen different physicians a year (Bodenhelmer et al., 2009).

This information hit home when my father had a heart attack in 2017 and needed triple bypass surgery. Between all the hospital and doctor visits and the multitude of medications, we are thankful that he has excellent medical coverage. But many people do not have medical insurance.

In addition to addressing the food desert environment, food intervention and treatment programs need to also address the psychological decisions behind purchasing non-nutritious foods. These understandings create more awareness and sensitivity to those different from our own cultural backgrounds and can be the key to supporting others in their quality of life.

Want to learn about some quality of life tips? Check out the Increase Quality Of Life, Where do I Start? post to learn more.

With gratitude,

Tara

 

 

References:

Barnhill, A., & Doggett, T. (2018). Food ethics I: Food production and food justice. Philosophy Compass, 13(3).  https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12479

Bodenheimer, T., Chen, E., & Bennett, H. D. (2009). Confronting the growing burden of chronic disease: Can the U.S. health care workforce do the job? Health Affairs, 28(1), 64-74. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.28.1.64

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Chronic disease overview. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overviex`w/index.htm

DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Cardarelli, K. M., Slone, S., & Gustafson, A. (2020). Rural SNAP participants and food insecurity: How can communities leverage resources to meet the growing food insecurity status of rural and low-income residents? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6037. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1716037

Johnston, J. L., Fanzo, J. C., & Cogill, B. (2014). Understanding sustainable diets: a descriptive analysis of the determinants and processes that influence diets and their impact on health, food security, and environmental sustainability. Advances in Nutrition, 5(4), 418–429. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.113.005553

Paez, K. A., Zhao, L., & Hwang, W. (2009). Rising out-of-pocket spending for chronic conditions: A ten-year trend. Health Affairs, 28(1), 15-25.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA). (2010). Access to affordable, nutritious food is limited in “food deserts”. Retrieved from USDA ERS – Access to Affordable, Nutritious Food Is Limited in “Food Deserts”.

Wardlaw, G. N., & Smith, A. M. (2010). Contemporary nutrition (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.