Please note that this piece was originally written and published in Spring 2020 by The Dish. Read here.
In May 2019, the community surrounding South Park Street faced a dilemma. A proposal for a new health clinic threatened to demolish the only full-service supermarket in the area: Pick ‘n Save. The next closest full-service supermarket, Trader Joe’s, was over two miles away. With the demolition of Pick ‘n Save, the South Park Street community would become a food desert.
Thankfully, grassroots campaigns helped amplify the community’s concerns and the clinic backed down in the interest of the community’s health. While South Park Street and other Madison neighborhoods have preserved their convenient access to full-service grocery stores, communities in other cities are increasingly threatened by the development of food deserts.
A food desert, defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a “low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has a low access to a supermarket or large grocery store” (USDA).
Yet, the term “food desert” can actually be somewhat misleading, as these “food deserts” are not completely without access to food. In fact, people who live in food deserts often describe their areas as having “lots and lots of food… just not very good food,” said Steve Ventura, professor emeritus of soil science and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A lot of the readily-available food in these neighborhoods comes from convenience stores and fast food restaurants, rather than grocery stores. When low-income communities lose their grocery stores, fast food joints and corner stores become the “go-to” for food because of the cost and convenience. At that point, when fast or convenience foods are the most accessible in a community, a food desert has been created.
“Some people, particularly in communities of color, would consider the term ‘food desert’ to be somewhat of a pejorative term,” Ventura said. For this reason, the term “food swamp” is commonly used in areas that have many low-quality food options, but still no grocery stores. The reality that there are Americans that lack healthy, nutritious foods is frustrating and disappointing on its own, but unfortunately, it gets worse. Food deserts exist almost exclusively within communities of color.
This is where the term "food apartheid" comes into play. Coined by New York-based food activist Karen Washington, "food apartheid" opens up another question in relation to food deserts: why are they so commonly go hand in hand with Black communities? The simple answer: because of the institutional, systemic racism that is so deeply embedded into America.
“The history really plays a role in terms of a hurdle,” said UW Health clinical nutritionist Cassie Vanderwall.
Food deserts don’t just appear out of the blue. They develop over time, starting perhaps with a grocery store closing in an area with poverty rates above the 20% mark. Due to factors like racial wage gap, racism in healthcare and the educational achievement gap, Black and brown people in America are at a higher risk of living in poverty than their white counterparts from day one.
As a result, people are left without immediate access to healthy and fresh foods. Having these options should not be a luxury—it’s a matter of health and quality of life. Food swamps, according to Ventura, provide “nutrient-poor, calorie-dense” foods. These types of foods are often highly processed, cheap and lacking adequate nutrition. Eating primarily this type of nutrient-poor food can have detrimental effects.
“Diets and food choices that are high in added sugars, […] in saturated fats, […] as well as foods high in sodium increase the risk for chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol,” Vanderwall said.
This is why there has been such a significant push for nutrition education and healthy eating over the past 12 or so years. In 2008, first lady Michelle Obama led the Let’s Move! campaign to promote healthy eating in schools. In 2011, the USDA created “MyPlate” to encourage balanced eating. While both programs provided awareness about the importance of healthy eating, education alone won’t solve the problem.
“Most people know that fruits and vegetables are good for them,” Vanderwall said. “It doesn’t all of a sudden give them a grocery cart full of produce that they can bring home to their families.”
Rather, the solution is a change in policy.
“Many things have been tried,” Ventura said. “One that has worked in some locations is to provide public incentives or subsidies for full service supermarkets.”
This process involves the government offering financial incentives to grocery store chains that open a grocery store in a community where a bank would not provide a loan for the building and franchise costs. This seems simple enough, but we have yet to see the government hand out subsidies like this to abolish food deserts.
As of now, the government isn’t offering many incentives, nor are banks providing loans. Ventura said that there is a “perception, particularly by commercial banks, that supermarkets are not viable in those neighborhoods.”
Fxing this issue would entail reforming bank practices and putting regulations on redlining, or “the identification of neighborhoods where banks are not willing to make loans,” as defined by Ventura.
These policy changes take time, though. Vanderwall called it “slow work.”
We need the data, which we already have,” Vanderwall said, “to inform policy and policy makers that there are these discrepancies, and that we have the tools to provide solutions, or at least a way to more equitable access to food.
But, just because change won’t happen overnight doesn’t mean that we can’t help in the meantime.
Change can begin with community members and students, and volunteering at food pantries is one of the best places to start.
“Particularly during the pandemic, food panties have played a really important role in getting food to people that need it,” Ventura said. “The pantries and food hubs are always looking for help.”
Helping stock shelves at a food bank, assisting at mobile or drive-thru pantries, delivering meals to families in need or fundraising and spreading awareness from home are all great ways to get involved. Second Harvest Foodbank and The River Food Pantry are great Madison-based organizations looking for volunteers.
“Everybody has a call to action to support change,” Vanderwall said. “Whether it’s advocacy, […] writing a letter, calling a legislator, signing a notice; I think we all have a role and can take that extra step in promoting change in our communities, even if it’s just an introspective review of, ‘what are my biases?’ or ‘what am I doing to contribute to the problem vs the solution?’”
Change has to start somewhere, and it sure won’t be the legislators waking up one day and deciding to put an end to all food deserts. Change starts small, with individuals implementing a change, picking up a phone, or writing a letter. How will you raise awareness? How will you implement change?