Actually the chart talks about supermarkets, and you mistakenly claim that because there is a lack of supermarkets there are no grocery stores either. They are simply not the same thing. Just because there is no close supermarket doesn’t mean there is no bodega or street cart with vegetables and fruits (there almost always is in pretty much every neighborhood of a major city). This distinction is always glossed over in the food desert debate by people who are too quick to blame society and the market. A supermarket is usually defined as a food store that grosses over $2 million in sales per year. Do you really think a small bodega or fruit cart sells that much in a year? But they still provide the option for healthy food, so where does that leave your argument?
You are absolutely correct on this. In addition to bodegas and carts, there are also often convenience stores in these areas which sell food items which also, to some extent, supplement the food supply. The primary issue with these things are: 1) limited selection, 2) no or few fresh/whole foods, 3) cost—when supply is limited, cost goes up, and 4) they are often not available in rural areas, where the majority of food deserts are. So, while they help, they don’t solve the problem, as many people who have responded to this thread who actually live in food deserts have explained.
There are a lot of really cool programs right now that are working to expand the number of bodegas and fruit carts that provide fresh produce and other healthy food items inexpensively. There are also federal programs, like Obama’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which are working to provide funding to keep grocery stores with more selection and lower prices open in communities where food deserts are problems. The goal of this initiative is to eliminate food deserts within 7 years.
Maybe there are no supermarkets or healthy food stores around because nobody wanted to buy their healthy food and instead patronized fast food stores. They probably went out of business because too many people were lazy and wanted to buy KFC for their family instead of cook a real meal. My parents are immigrants who came to this country with absolutely nothing and they managed to eat right and stay healthy, so why is it so hard for people who have been here for generations?
You say you grew up in a place that was 20 miles from the nearest grocery store? If that’s where you grew up then that’s unfortunate but once you become an adult and have the power to relocate the blame shifts to yourself. It’s nobody’s fault but your own if you choose to live in a place that will negatively affect your health. People say that it’s not always easy or possible to move, but that is simple laziness. We live in a free country and you can pick up and move if you have the gumption. The food desert argument is an excuse for laziness, stupidity, and ignorance.
You should take a look into what happens when large numbers of poor people try to move into nicer neighborhoods, what happens to the wealthy people (they leave) and what happens to the businesses (they follow the money.) White flight and gentrification illustrate how income inequality has a way of keeping people of similar economic situations living in the same, separate communities. When large numbers of people living in a single community have lower incomes, grocery stores in those communities often do not make enough money from the community to stay profitable; so they close and re-open in areas where there are more people with more money to spend on food and other items.
In summary: picking up and moving may not be an option for some, and often still will not resolve the issue if the real problem is that you don’t make enough money to 1) live in a community with easy access to food, and 2) as a community, spend enough to attract businesses.
This is simple economics. I don’t really understand the point of resorting to shaming and name-calling when there are pretty simple, straight-forward causes for these problems, the primary one being economic inequality.