Nearest Grocery Store is 10 miles away, McDonald’s is closer.

Word Count: 1297

In Chicago, an area without grocery stores nearby has twice the death rate from

diabetes as an area with a nearby grocery store. Food deserts and obesity is a growing

problem all around the United States, and it is affecting people mainly in poorer areas.

My individual research asks the important question, why is obesity so prominent in areas

that have significantly more poverty than other areas, and what are the social aspects of

these areas that are affecting the obesity rate. My answer to this question is that obesity is

so prominent in areas with more poverty because of the social aspects such as their

community and the culture of fast food being the main source of food.

Areas with more poverty do not have the resources needed to prepare healthy

foods, and in order to compensate for this lack of food, they go to fast food areas. Areas

that have poverty are filled with people who are unable to afford healthy food options,

meaning they are stuck with consuming unhealthy cheap junk food that fast food places

provide. According to the CDC, community factors that influence obesity include “the

affordability of healthy food options” (CDC 6). People who cannot afford healthy grocery

options physically have no access to food that will prevent obesity, and they are stuck

with eating fast food. This excessive consumption of unhealthy fast food will increase the

rate of obesity in these areas. In addition to poverty, there is also the social aspect of this

country-wide epidemic. Not only the adults who are not able to afford healthy food, but

children who are in poor schools and other communities that are in poverty are stuck with

eating unhealthy food as well. According to the CDC, the communities that these
children are in affect their healthiness through the “food and drinks they offer and the

physical activity opportunities they provide” (CDC 12) Not only does the affordability of

the food matter, but the community of the younger children affects the obesity rate as

well. Children are unable to have their own choice of what food they want, as they don’t

have money or freedom. The community that they live in, whether it be poor or wealthy,

determines not only what food they eat, but the obesity rate of the future generations as

well. Not only does the upbringing of children and the household income matter, but the

people themselves also affect the obesity rate. According to Ingrid Wright at the UTSA,

researchers observed “women are more likely to exhibit obesity as a result of food

insecurity” (Wright 7). Food insecurity is the amount of healthy food that is available to a

person based on their income and where they are living. Not only does the community for

children, the poverty level of adults, but the gender matters too. Most women will not eat

healthy food and save money in order to buy proper healthy food for their children, in

turn causing them to become unhealthy and obese. There are many additional factors that

contribute to the increasing obesity rate of the US, and it isn’t only from food deserts.

There are things like the communities and the income of the people that affect the obesity

rate.

The complex nature of food deserts and the way they impact obesity rates need

better understanding by all people. Lydia Zepeda in her article highlights the challenges

of facing mobile markets in food deserts. After conducting a group study she found that

both groups identified the following needs for mobile markets to be “more successful:

increased awareness and advertising; affordability; improved convenience” (Zepeda

2014) and more. This argument shows the potential solution to addressing food deserts,
showing that mobile markets can be much more beneficial. Because of this, food deserts

can be fixed with simple solutions such as this, with the only hindrance being budget.

Another point is that there are many disparities in terms of access to healthy food in the

US, and Renee Walker as well as other authors highlight this in their article. They discuss

how racial and ethnic minority neighborhoods are “disproportionately affected by

increased rates of mortality” (Walker et al. 2010) due to not having proper access to

nutritious food. The authors’ perspectives here shows how there are systemic inequalities.

This emphasizes the need to address these systematic inequalities in order to tackle the

obesity problem effectively. If this were to happen, then it would be possible to target

these areas with racial inequality and provide them with the proper access to nutritious

food. Together, both of these sources demonstrate the nature of the issue, showing the

importance of addressing food deserts to combat the obesity problem.

Food deserts are mainly in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, and this is due

to the people who live in these areas have low income making them easier for large fast

food companies to target. Beaulac in her article found clear evidence for disparities in

food access in the United States by income and race. She states that despite burgeoning

interests in food deserts, they “systematically reviewed the gap of socioeconomic values

in disadvantaged areas” (Beaulac et al. 2009). Beaulac’s review provides an

understanding of how complex food deserts actually are. This shows how it is a must to

target socioeconomically disadvantaged areas which can help reduce the effects of food

deserts more drastically. This is because, if the government would target areas in poverty,

they would effectively combat food deserts, however since food deserts are not as

prominent in areas not in poverty, targeting them would be futile. The Annie E. Casey
Foundation highlights disparities in access to supermarkets based on racial demographics.

She says that the study compared different poverty levels and found that “urban areas and

black communities had the fewest supermarkets” (Casey 2021), while white communities

had the most and multiracial communities were in the middle. The foundation’s research

shows how there are racial disparities in terms of food access, which emphasizes the

importance of talking about how and why systemic inequities are a big factor in food

deserts. After examining both of these sources, we can see how both sources talk about

how food deserts are only affecting areas with diversity and mainly poverty. This

problem can be well combated if the government would help these areas by encouraging

supermarkets to be established in those areas.

In looking at the issue of food deserts and their job in worsening the stoutness

pandemic in the US through a social focal point, my exploration has uncovered diverse

difficulties and likely arrangements. By digging into different points of view,

remembering local area drives and differences for food access, our group has acquired

understanding into the mind boggling nature of this issue. While general store

speculations and portable business sectors show guarantee in tending to food deserts,

there are constraints to these arrangements, like the requirement for supported financing

and tending to fundamental foundational imbalances. Through our exploration, we have

recognized the significance of designated mediations that address the particular

necessities of networks, especially those confronting financial and racial differences. By

understanding the main drivers of food deserts and their suggestions for general

wellbeing, our group can all the more likely address our exploration address: how might

the US diminish the antagonistic impacts of food deserts and relieve the impacts of the
weight pandemic? Pushing ahead, our group can use this exploration to advocate for

strategy changes pointed toward elevating fair admittance to nutritious food sources and

tending to foundational disparities in food access. By focusing on local area based

arrangements and addressing the social elements adding to stoutness, we can pursue a

better and more fair food climate for all Americans.

Disease Control and Prevention. [Link]

Wright, I. (2019). UTSA researchers: Those with inadequate access to food likely to suffer from

obesity. [Link].

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Foundations Aim To Foster Nourishment And Banish “Food Deserts.” (2012). Health Affairs,

31(5), 1119–1120. [Link]

Zepeda, L., Reznickova, A., & Lohr, L. (2014). Overcoming challenges to effectiveness of

mobile markets in US food deserts. Appetite, 79, 58–67.

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Walker, R. E., Keane, C. R., & Burke, J. G. (2010). Disparities and access to healthy food in the

United States: A review of food deserts literature. Health & Place, 16(5),

876–884. [Link]

Beaulac, J., Kristjansson, E., & Cummins, S. (2009). A systematic review of food deserts,

1966-2007. Preventing Chronic Disease, 6(3).

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California FreshWorks Food Access Report An Examination of Three Northgate González

Grocery Store Investments Lead Author About this Report and Evaluation

Acknowledgements. (2016).

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Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2021, February 13). Food Deserts in the United States. The Annie
E. Casey Foundation. [Link]