The CDC defines a food desert as, "... 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."
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Many people generally only think of food deserts (if they think of them at all) as being places where fresh fruits and vegetables are unavailable. Not only can food deserts have limited access to more than just produce, sometimes the goods they need are within walking distance of their homes but are totally and completely unaffordable.
Before the days of big box stores, many neighborhoods and communities relied on small, locally-owned grocery stores, butcher shops, and bakeries among others in order to meet their needs. Now we have seen the overwhelming popularity (and subsequent takeover) of supermarkets. Specializing in nothing but providing everything, these stores became a one-stop-shop that rendered dozens of stores in the community obsolete.
According to the data collected by DoSomething.org, "About 23.5 million people live in food deserts. Nearly half of them are also low-income." The details of this statistic are important to keep in mind when considering how far people have to travel now in order to get affordable food.
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I live downtown in Lafayette, Indiana, near a plethora of wonderful shops that serve as evidence of a flourishing local economy. Personally, I live right at the poverty line, I live alone, and I do not have a car. Even though I live in this area and I have all of these shops available to me, I still live in a food desert. The "grocery co-op" downtown is a little over a half mile from my house on foot. Because all of their produce is locally grown and organic, I can't afford it. Sometimes I can get clearance produce but not often because there is only one day a week when they're open while I'm not working and that only provides me a four hour window to go. Even the clearance produce is still very expensive. When a $4 butternut squash becomes spotted and half-rotted, it is still only marked down to $2 or so.
Even the packaged, shelf-stable food in this area is very expensive. If I was totally and completely immobile, and more often than not I am, I would either have to shop at the grocery co-op or a convenience store that is a little less than half a mile from my house when the farmer's market isn't in season. Because I live in a food desert alongside thousands of my low-income neighbors, some of whom are Lafayette's poorest residents, this particular convenience store has a larger than average selection of grocery items. For people who are hungry and stuck, $4.99 for a jar of Prego spaghetti sauce and $2.99 for the noodles is the going rate. The only meat available is frozen, pre-formed hamburger patties that cost $12.99/lb regardless of freezer burn.
Thankfully, I have friends who support this experiment and take me to and from locally-owned establishments in different parts of the city and beyond. If I was once again totally reliant upon the city bus system, supermarkets would be my only option for buying food, aside from these two high-priced options within walking distance of my house. Having done it before, I can say with absolute certainty that relying on the city bus system as a primary means of getting food into the house is ineffective. I will cover this more in a later post but I am well aware that I am one of the lucky ones.
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With all of that being said, I think it is worth noting that since the decline of the well-stocked community grocery store, many people who live in food deserts and have no access to private transportation only ever get fresh fruits, vegetables, and other goods from food pantries. The Greater Lafayette community is fortunate in that there are many area food pantries with three being within walking distance of many downtown residents. Unfortunately, even this isn't enough. Donations to the pantries vary so greatly that no one could ever predict what they would receive before entering such an establishment.
When I went to the food pantry to receive assistance as part of a struggling family of four, I received several cans of vegetables and sauces, a package of dry noodles, a package of dry beans, canola oil, one loaf of bread, one meat item (we chose the freezer-burned turkey legs over the half pound of bacon), and ONE fresh fruit OR fresh vegetable item. Our options were one head of iceberg lettuce or a quart of strawberries. I chose the strawberries and as I was about to leave the food pantry and a worker stopped me and offered me a second box. I graciously accepted the addition but asked her why she was giving away extra food. She pointed out to me that the strawberries in both boxes had begun to mold.
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The biggest thing that I wasn't expecting to encounter in this experiment was yet more empathy to people who are in situations similar to mine but who have different opportunities. If I knew just a few less people or if I made just a bit less money, my situation would look totally different than it does right now.