The Fight Against Food Deserts

Nia Scott
HBCUvc
Published in
3 min readFeb 12, 2018

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Defined by the USDA as “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas,” food deserts are largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers markets, and healthy food providers. As they are generally found in low-income neighborhoods, food deserts point to a broken food system that generates staggering health rates for minorities and leaves entire communities with limited access to food.

Photo taken from Google Images

There have been numerous solutions proposed to getting healthy affordable food into these areas with some of the most exciting and effective ones being created utilizing innovative technology.

However in order to effectively combat food deserts for a long-term basis there are several key issues that people need to become aware of:

#1 Funding: Clearly, insufficient funding is the largest obstacle to success in fulfilling the long-term grocery needs of any community. While a food co-op in a middle- to high-income setting may be able to rely almost exclusively on membership, member equity, and loans to develop and open a store, lower-income communities usually need assistance from nonprofits and community-development funding sources. For low-income communities, these additional sources of funding will probably be required at some level throughout the life of the store. For stores with a nonprofit model that are not co-ops, this funding need may be even greater.

#2 Feasibility: Urban food deserts may need some creative solutions to the standard feasibility issues facing co-ops. By keeping the store in the neighborhood being served, site selection may be limited. Available distribution centers may be hard to locate or unable to meet local pricing needs. The issues of neighborhood attachment may override traditional assessment of community support.

#3 Neighborhood attachment: Neighborhood commitment and involvement in these projects from the beginning is extremely important. If a store is simply “planted” to fill a need, be it nonprofit or corporate, the opportunity to build a permanent relationship in the neighborhood can be lost. The store must meet the neighborhood’s needs and be responsive to changes. Community-driven decisions on site, size, inventory selection, community space, price points, and many other areas help to build this attachment. Concerns over community issues such as possible gentrification needs to be considered. These discussions must continue through the entire life of the store.

#4 Sustainability: A store that cannot adapt over time and sustain itself will not meet the long-term needs of its community. As funding and trends change, will corporate and nonprofit commitments to these urban food deserts remain? Can a nonprofit-supported cooperative endure? Many of the issues that other co-ops face for sustainability will apply. However, finding the right balance for these underserved neighborhoods may take additional action in monitoring and adjusting for success.

Once the key issues in establishing a solution to food deserts are addressed there will be more opportunities for fresh affordable food in low income areas.

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