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A “Food Desert” is an area where a substantial number of residents have low access to supermarkets and/or grocery stores. Typically, these are also defined as low-income areas where residents also have limited mobility options for reaching grocery stores outside of their neighborhoods.
The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an online tool back in May that helps these communities be more easily identified. Below is a map of the food deserts in Central Ohio:
These areas of limited food access are concentrated primarily on the near east and north east sides of the city, along with pockets on the west side and across the south side. It’s worth noting that a large census tract Downtown is also marked as as food desert.
Bear Braumoeller also recently posted up an entry at the Slow Food Columbus blog about food deserts. An excerpt:
One question that’s worth asking is whether food deserts, and “food swamps,” are really a problem. Put more precisely, is diminished access to healthy food a primary cause of poor diet, obesity, and disease? This issue is often framed as a question of whether people exercise completely independent judgment—i.e. “personal responsibility”—or are subject to the effects of their environment (or “the system” that they live in). The two aren’t really exclusive, I’d argue, since people exercising good judgment should be influenced by their environment. In this case, there are costs involved in transportation and time: it might be possible to drive (or walk a mile) to get lettuce, but if one can walk a block or two to a Big Mac or a Snickers bar, that effectively raises the price of healthy food access relative to unhealthy food. A rational consumer will take those environmental costs into account.
You can read the full article here: “Food Deserts and Food Access“.
Also, below is a short film on food deserts created by the local theatre group Available Light Theatre for their recent “Food Play” performance:
What other thoughts do you have on these areas of Columbus, and what can be done to address this issue?
“The deck’s unfairly stacked, and that’s gotta be part of the conversation.”
Great, informative video. I love that this was made. These things need to be discussed and we need to do something about it.
The United Way is leading a pilot program, in collaboration with the OSU Extension and Local Matters, to address the Franklinton/Harrisburg Pike area food desert through its “Fresh Foods Here” initiative. The project works with local convenience store owners to provide them technical assistance in working with fresh, healthy food distributors and marketing to nearby residents on the new availability of these foods.
The project will be evaluated extensively and it would be great to see its successful elements replicated in other food deserts across the County in the future.
My colleagues and friends have been working on this issue for over a decade now. It is reassuring to see publicity for this on a nationwide scale. One thing I would like to point out is that the USDA’s ERS has a very conservative way of calculating ‘food desert’. They discuss income, proximity to food outlets, and limited transportation in their definition, but the actual assessment only includes income and proximity. I point this out because according to ERS’ model Franklinton is not calculated as a ‘food desert’, even if it meets the definition.
Thanks for the plug for Franklinton, Amanda. The Franklinton Corner Store Project is a collaboration among Franklinton Gardens, the United Way, Columbus Public Health, and OSU. Local Matters has had little to do with the Franklinton part of the project accept to insert themselves into the process; they are much more involved with the Harrisburg Pike component.
Looks familiar, the places with the lowest combination of income and density have the least grocery options.
I don’t consider Franklinton to be a food desert. I saw one of the Franklinton Gardens people on TV a while back say that a drive to the grocery store took 20 minutes. 20 minutes!
Recently, I forgot an item from the BD Kroger and had to go back to get it. I was able to drive there AND back in under 10 minutes. I can also get to the W Mound ALDI in less than 5 minutes in my car. They sell produce there as well. When my brother lived in Fton without a car, he was able to purchase all of his groceries from ALDI and transport them on his bike.
It really grinds my gears when people talk about Franklinton like it’s some backwater deserted neighborhood. It’s not. And as for Franklinton not having a full service grocery store, neither does Grandview Heights, technically. The fact is, people eat salty snacks because they like them, not because they are denied fresh produce. The poor diet of many Franklintonians is the result of culture and education, not proximity.
@Parker, thanks for the additional info about the Fresh Foods Here project. There seem to be a lot of very motivated people behind the project and I look forward to following its progress.
@somebuckeye: There will also be a community education piece in the pilot project around choosing and preparing healthy foods. Since a comprehensive report will be prepared with this project, it will be interesting to see if a combination of increased availability and outreach/education results in an increase in healthier food choices.
Education and culture are a part of the puzzle, but we can’t expect to help people make better decisions if they don’t have access. It’s a chicken and egg sort of problem (economics, education, access), with groups approaching it from both sides (which I think is good).
I don’t disagree that getting to the grocery store is pretty easy if you have a car, or even if you shop for one, but I don’t think it’s so easy shopping for a family and bringing those groceries home on a bike, or even the bus. This is a particular problem if we are telling people that fresh and frozen are preferable to canned since those are affected during transport. Grandview has a Giant Eagle very close by and doesn’t have the access problems of Fton.