Food Desert Essay

Ally Weix

Dr. Tracy

Writ 1133: “Recipe and Cookbook Rhetorics”

May 31st 2023

A Look into the Overlooked Food Deserts Issue

Communities across the United States have been classified as “food deserts.” The phrase “food desert” refers to the idea that these communities are often separated from more developed communities. This type of isolation causes individuals to have limited access to grocery stores containing foods of proper nutrition. These areas are often rural and contain a population of people with lower socioeconomic status. Food deserts have been an overlooked issue in the United States for the past few decades. While some nation-wide issues like gun violence lock up front pages of newspapers, the communities that are living in food

A short documentary named Mississippi 'Food Deserts' Fuel Obesity Epidemic, gave viewers an insight of the life of citizens of the Mississippi Delta region including one town named Lambert, Mississippi. The citizens of the Mississippi Delta regions are most definitely living within the definition of a food desert as nearly half the town lives below the federal poverty line and the closest grocery store is over three miles away. Additionally, the produce at this closest grocery store is extremely pricey and not in the budget for the residents living there. It is more than a 20-mile drive to get to a store with better produce and less expensive selections; however, residents have no way to get there because there is no public transportation, as described in the documentary. One of the reasons behind how this town evolved into being a food desert lies in the historic past of the town. The documentary explained that the majority of the residents in Lambert, Mississippi are descendants of sharecroppers. The town is racially segregated and unfortunately the generational wealth has not been passed down to the citizens living in Lambert now. African Americans are more prone to live in food deserts in this region of Mississippi because of the past history of how black Americans were segregated from better areas of town. The

This is due to the fact that food deserts are located in these areas of low income and businesses do not choose to open in these neighborhoods because they are not likely to prosper in them. In order to try to fix this issue, cities have tried to place healthier options like Whole Foods in these neighborhoods but they are having an adverse effect. The individuals of the community cannot afford to pay more for better quality food and end up shutting down. One possible way to fix this issue is to open more cost friendly options like Aldi or Safeway. By adding a greater variety of options at a lower costs, citizens should be able to make the shift to more healthier options without breaking their