Food Deserts (one "s")

More excuses not to eat healthy.

Yes, a bit more difficult to purchase healthy items, but, with a little planning, healthy goals can be easily obtained.

Well, no.

Not easily.

Possible, but not easy.

I get it.

Very interesting.

No healthy meals on wheels in the USA?

Hm. Not excuses for everyone. Elderly, among others, difficulties even with walking.
Two miles may be a stretch.

Or delivery by the supermarkets?

I think those exist some places but not in the places being talked about here, the food deserts.

There are programs to try to address the problem in the works:



(from the same article/ report.)

Delivery can cost -- it depends on the store.

I've known about these for years, haven't seen it where I've lived lately, but then I don't know my present city as completely as I knew Los Angeles. South LA used to be famous for this, having miserable bus transportation and few if any regular grocery stores. That was back then, it may be different now.

I also noticed that stores that did exist in borderline poor areas had dismal produce sections in contrast to stores elsewhere - but that is just anecdotal, from my own experience.

Anyway, when I read that article, I wasn't the least surprised.

Getting fresh foods to low income or elderly is the job of food cupboards, co-ops and churches IMHO.

Transportation is a real issue, here. But so is the menu culture of many people. They want carbs covered in ketchup.

Overheard last week: A doctor talking about patients and payments, "and you know, Medicaid recipients are the worst patients. They are the most uncompliant and difficult to work with on their own healthcare."

Where I live, food delivery at one store is free with purchase over $75. A lot of people don't have the funds to spend that much in one go. It is one of the last remaining grocery stores in this part of the city offering delivery at all.

If you haven't seen a food desert you don't understand the problem. Take a trip to Brownsville, East NY or the South Bronx. Blocks and blocks of crappy urban housing, half of it burnt out or full of squatters and all around the area is dotted with little corner groceries full of crap and the worst of Hunt's Market (largest produce wholesalers in NY) To get decent food you have take a subway or bus, it costs money and it's hard to carry enough groceries by hand or pull cart for feed a family. There used to be a supermarket called M&M - it specialized in opening in poor areas. They constantly got violations for selling expired (rewrapped) meat and vegetables that looked like they were pulled out of a dumpster. They had a big sign outside about taking food stamps and they would run specials on the worst food the day people got their stamps. They also had those check cashing services that charge a large percentage of the check. There are NO banks in these neighborhoods.

It's easy to criticize poor people for not whipping up salads and baked chicken - or not following doctor's instructions. But the reality is they are trying so hard just to keep a roof over their head and something (anything) on the table that what seems like common sense to most people gets buried by their daily stress of just keeping alive.

These are places where a little community outreach effort by the city and some volunteers, some coaching, and a community gardening area could go a very long way in helping people obtain healthy vegetables and fruits.

These food deserts are the situations First Lady Michelle Obama was targeting with her White House Garden project. What people learn from these garden projects will last them a lifetime and not just the 10 minutes it takes to choke down a box of pre-fabricated food from the neighborhood grocery shelf or the county plastic cheese distributor.

Alice Waters has been working on this for decades, targeting school children, with a lot of success.

I like this project in Detroit that is reinventing the farm in the city:

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/27/nation/la-na-detroit-farms27-2009dec27

Great thread idea, Soz!

Everything I thought of saying has been said. Happily I live in a rich food zone even though it is urban. Even so, several reasonably priced restaurants and small-scale grocers have disappeared in the last 10 years. I have two decent sized grocery stores within walking distance, a couple of lunch places and quickie marts that sells limited fruits and vegetables, and only several quickie marts that sell just junk.

One of the CBC radio news programs had a week of features on the farm in the city programming in Detroit. Interesting stuff.

I think I was mostly shocked by how the actual population of Detroit has declined.

I think its quite hard to get healthy food.