Food Deserts: Healthy Living In The Black Community

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Olivia Singleton Senior Thesis 10/3/13 P.4 Healthy Living in the Black Community Food deserts are places where healthy foods are not produced nor sold. Unfortunately, Chicago is filled with food deserts. Approximately 600,000 people reside in areas that consist of food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Nearly 200,000 of those people are children. These children do not have the opportunity for healthier options, which shows an increase in obesity rates (News One Staff, 2011). There are 77 Chicago communities and out of that 77, 23 are food deserts (Gallagher, 2006). Chicagoans-particularly the black communities- are forced to live off the accessible food that is near them. The food deserts are in Austin, North Lawndale, Armour Square, Near South Side, Fuller Park, Grand Boulevard, Washington Park, Woodlawn, West Lawn, Chicago Lawn, Englewood, Ashburn, Auburn Gresham, Beverly, Washington Heights, Morgan Park, Roseland, Pullman, South Deering, Riverdale, South Chicago, and West Pullman (Grossinger, 2007). The communities are usually served by junk food- filled corner stores, which do not offer an abundance of healthy foods. The communities are in desperate need of change. In Chicago, food deserts are located on the south and west sides. Unfortunately, the south and west sides are mainly where black people live (Illinois Advisory Committee, 2011). There is a health disparity in the black community compared to the white community (Illinois Advisory Committee, 2011). The black community has a higher obesity and diabetes rate than the white community (Ver Ploeg , Breneman, 2009). The Illinois Advisory Committee concludes that predominately white communities have a lower obesity and diabetes rate because they have easy access to healthy food... ... middle of paper ... ... reside in those neighborhoods do not get grocery stores such as Mariano’s. When one walks around a predominately black community and or lower income, it is not easy to spot an organic healthy store. But if one was to walk around a higher income community, he can find a store who produces and or sells healthy food items. Because of the stores that is parallel to the obesity people see in their own neighborhood. The obesity rates have been rising according to the Illinois Advisory Committee. According to the New York Times, there has been a rise in food deserts because of the closing of the Dominick’s grocery store. People are having to take two buses to get to the nearest store that sells quality food. That is an issue of its own. It is not fair that people who need these stores are getting it taken away from them with no replacement. There has to be another way.

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