What Is a Food Desert?

Good question.

To answer that, first, I want to share a few statistics with you.

In a survey published by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, it was shown that 65.4% of stores in Central Harlem, and 66.2% in East Harlem, were bodegas. Bodegas are small grocery-stores, with convenient hours and locations. However, bodegas present much less healthy options than do supermarkets, which have an array of fresh produce to choose from. Only 8% of the stores in Central and East Harlem were supermarkets. Now, compare this to 18.7% on the Upper East Side, a much richer area of NYC.

The difference in the availability of healthy foods in these neighborhoods is striking. It is hard to believe that Harlem and the Upper East Side are adjacent.

Now look at the unemployment rates for these areas. According to research done by the Furman Center of NYU, the unemployment rate in Harlem in 2010 was 15.9%. Next door, on the Upper East Side, the median income is $100,000, as found in the annual report written by the Community Boards of Manhattan, local-government bodies for the different areas of Manhattan.

It is no coincidence that the supermarkets and health-food stores are mainly located in the high income areas of Manhattan, and avoid the poorer parts of the city. And like that, a food desert is created.

So-what is a food desert?

Food deserts are defined by the US Department of Agriculture as “urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.”

But it is more than that-

Living in a food desert does more than limit your options at your next meal. Living in a food desert limits your paths for the future, decreases your potential as a student, worker, or parent.

What can be done to irrigate the food desert?

Keep reading to find out!