What exactly is the food desert landscape? It is describing the areas in the US where food is scarce and the poverty level is about 20% or higher. So the places where they need more access to food are the very same places where they cannot afford food which means that grocery chains or corporations do not find it lucrative enough to establish stores in these areas. And the food, as you can imagine, that is available in these areas are not healthy, not nutritious, and certainly not beneficial which fits the criteria of the definition of food security (availability and access to food that is nutritious and beneficial).
To see how your neighborhood/region does please go to http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/fooddesert.html and enter your zip-code.
What are we doing? The First Lady's initiative "Let's Move," the Treasury Department, Health and Human Services, USDA and the Economic Research Service forms the Healthy Food Financing Initiative which will "expand the availability of nutritious food to food deserts--low-income communities without ready access to healthy and affordable food--by developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, and farmers markets with fresh and healthy food" explains the USDA's website. Can we add educating and promoting community gardens and individual gardens (or urban farms) to these communities as well? Because if these communities are at a poverty level of 20% or greater I am not sure how good a solution grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores and farmers markets will be if not supplemented with community and individual gardens/farms.
This map is actually very horrifying...
To see how your neighborhood/region does please go to http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/fooddesert.html and enter your zip-code.
What are we doing? The First Lady's initiative "Let's Move," the Treasury Department, Health and Human Services, USDA and the Economic Research Service forms the Healthy Food Financing Initiative which will "expand the availability of nutritious food to food deserts--low-income communities without ready access to healthy and affordable food--by developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores, and farmers markets with fresh and healthy food" explains the USDA's website. Can we add educating and promoting community gardens and individual gardens (or urban farms) to these communities as well? Because if these communities are at a poverty level of 20% or greater I am not sure how good a solution grocery stores, small retailers, corner stores and farmers markets will be if not supplemented with community and individual gardens/farms.
This map is actually very horrifying...
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