In the article “The Fight Over Food Deserts: Corporate America Smacks Its Way Down”, Eric Holt-Gimenez provides answers to the food desert epidemic the United States faces. A food desert is an area in which fresh and nutritious food is not readily available to the masses. Whether it be because of economic or geographic reasons, the fresh ingredients are often scarce and expensive. Gimenez first addresses the corporate aspect of the food desert problem and how the big box companies are looking to take advantage of impoverished neighborhoods (Holt-Gimenez 525). Gimenez then states a solution to the problem; improving wages for the working class, not providing big business with more money to move into local areas(Holt-Gimenez 526-527). While I …show more content…
. Although the distance to a grocery store is not as severe as in Ada County, the three-quarter mile trip to a grocery store the average resident of Chicago must take is significant when considering the area. As of September 28th, 2016, the United States Department of Labor has the Chicago Metropolitan Area at 5.4% unemployment. This means that people are going to most likely target cheaper food than what the fresh grocer offers. Salt, added sugar, fat, and cholesterol plague Chicago. As of 2014, Lori Koch from the Illinois Department of Health, says that 10% of cancer diagnoses are colon and related to the poor diet and obesity sweeping over the city. On top of that, 9.5% of cancer related deaths are from the same reason. This is just the cancer numbers; this does not include those afflicted with hypertension and heart disease or diabetes. Obviously paying more does not fix the problem with food deserts. People are still being forced into eating processed and fried foods. To solve this problem our government needs to put money into the farmers and grocers. Make the food available, and available …show more content…
By increasing funding for the businesses, they are able to put out more money for equipment and employees. With this employment, production can be sped up, which means a surplus can be created of the product. With a surge in supply, demand will most likely raise due to dropping prices. An equilibrium will eventually form, but it would not heavily impact the price. With the supply, available to meet the demand, there must be a way to make the products widely
He went on to share that South Central LA is not the only food desert in United States, there are 26.5 million Americans living in food deserts. But, what makes his food desert different from some in this country, is that the "drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys." For example, people are dying from curable diseases. The obesity rate is 5 times higher than it is in Beverly Hills just 8-10 miles away. He was tired of seeing what was happening in his
Many in the U.S., today, try to eat well,balanced, meals to order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They do so by purchasing their food at farmers markets or making their own meals, so their food isn’t processed or genetically modified. Even though people are trying to maintain health in order to live long lives, without medical complications, many don’t have the opportunity to pursue life like this. In “Research shows food deserts more abundant in minority neighborhoods,” the author, Kelly Brooks, portrays an anecdote and logical reasoning, from Kelly Bower’s research, to thoroughly describe the food deserts in poor minority neighborhoods and how this issue needs to be repaired.
Walsh, Bryan. “America’s Food Crisis.” NEXUS. Eds. Kim and Michael Flachmann. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 166 – 173. Print.
Alviola IV, Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., and Michael Thomsen to learn more about what food deserts and how they impact the society around them. I believed that this was a good source because it went into what food deserts are and how they might be connected to the increase of obesity. I learned that a food desert is an “area where access to healthy foods is limited or constrained” (Alviola 106). I also learned that studies have shown people who live in food deserts “are likely to pay higher prices for food and have limited options in terms of purchasing healthy foods” (Alviola 106). After reading this article I have realized that Xavier may also be in a food desert because the closest grocery store is Kroger whose produce is almost always non-fresh and does not look edible to eat which encourages people to leave and resort to eating fast food for every meal. Needing more information about the effects of Food Deserts I started to look at an article called, “The Effects of Food Deserts on the Weight Status of South Dakota Children”, written by Emily Niswanger, Elizabeth Droke, Suzanne Stluka, and Kuo-Liang Chang. I believed that this was a great next source to look into because the name of the article was exactly what I wanted to get more information about. The source was about one study that was made in the state of South Dakota to discover if food deserts do have an effect on
Because the people who live in food deserts do not get proper supplements of fruits and vegetable, much of their diets are consisted of mainly junk food, fast food, and meats. As a result of this, today, more than one third of adults in America are obese. In addition to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease can also be results of a lack of healthy food choices, which result from people buying their food from convenience stores that only sell processed foods and from fast food restaurants. This paper attempts to provide readers with a better understanding of the fact that not only do food deserts exists, they are threatening the lives of Amer...
... 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.
Economic forces have driven grocery stores out of many cities in the past few years, either only leaving only a few, and in some cases none. Many of these people leaving in these rural urban areas do not own cars and b...
“Food Deserts” are arears where people have a hard time finding affordable, healthy food. These places are usually low-income neighborhoods that do not have any supermarkets nearby but have convenience stores that sell junk food and fast food places around them. Ron Finley, a guerrilla gardener, lives in a “food desert” in South Central Los Angeles. He plants fruit and vegetable gardens to help nourish his community with healthy eating. In the article “Giving the Poor Easy Access to Healthy Food Doesn’t Mean They’ll Buy It,” Margot Sanger-Katz states that “merely adding a grocery store to a poor neighborhood doesn’t make a very big difference” because the diets of the residents living in those neighborhoods did not change. I think “food deserts” are only a part of the bigger problem in America because obesity is everywhere, not just in low-income
A major issue that is occurring in America is a phenomena known as “food deserts”, most are located in urban areas and it's difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. Whereas in the past, food deserts were thought to be solved with just placing a grocery store in the area, but with times it has become an issue that people are not picking the best nutritional option. This issue is not only making grocery store in food deserts are practically useless and not really eliminating the issue of food deserts because even when they are given a better nutritional option, and people are not taking it. In my perspective, it takes more than a grocery store to eliminate ‘food deserts’. It's more about demonstrating the good of picking the nutritional option and how it can help them and their families. For example, “Those who live in these areas are often subject to poor diets as a result and are at a greater risk of becoming obese or developing chronic diseases.”(Corapi, 2014).
“Food Deserts” as defined by the CDC, are “areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). In simpler terms, a food desert is a community with little to no grocery stores. Many reports show that neighborhoods with less access to neighborhood grocery stores have a higher risk for obesity and unhealthy diets unlike neighborhoods where residents have better access to neighborhood grocery stores. The “USDA estimates that 23.5 million people, including 6.5 million children, live in low-income areas that are than one mile from a supermarket. Of the 23.5 million, 11.5 million are low-income individuals in households with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. Of the 2.3 million people living in low-income rural areas that ...
A food desert is a location in which a wide variety of nutrition food is not generally available (Wrigley et al. 261). Food deserts exist in places such as inner cities and isolated rural areas (Morton and Blanchard 1). The purpose of the paper supported by this annotated bibliography is to argue that food deserts do not exist because of discrimination against the poor, but because of forces related to supply and demand. This hypothesis ought to be kept in mind when considering each of the sources (Just and Wansink; Wrigley, Warm and Margetts; Jetter and Cassady; Epstein et al.; Schafft, Jensen and Hinrichs; Bitler and Haider) described in the annotated bibliography.
For economists and politicians, there are a few things that still are not considered, and the missing answers are only piling up; someone always has to win or lose out. Food policies are one of them. Bringing urban agriculture to cities is an incomparable move. When community food growing flourishes, the consumers seem to be healthier and smarter about what they eat, less p...
...inds to address the food for the future. Helping people help themselves is the only lasting help.
that must be eliminated by every possible means. That being said, food security has a direct