People Who Live in Food Deserts in America

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America is by far one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations worldwide. But to be such a powerhouse and beacon of some much opportunity, The United States is struggling to provide families with the sufficient amount of food. The parts of the country that lack adequate food supply are known as food deserts. The term food desert can be used when describing areas with limited resources and little to no access to fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy products. Affordable and nutritious food is almost impossible to gain access to in food deserts. Approximately 2.3 million of Americans live over a mile away from a supermarket and do not have a car. This equates to about 2.2 percent of all U.S. households. These statistics are according the data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. The reports also indicate that some of these areas include vast, rural parts of West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, as well as urban areas like New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles. The people residing in majority of these food deserts are predominantly African Americans. Because the people who live in food deserts do not get proper supplements of fruits and vegetable, much of their diets are consisted of mainly junk food, fast food, and meats. As a result of this, today, more than one third of adults in America are obese. In addition to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease can also be results of a lack of healthy food choices, which result from people buying their food from convenience stores that only sell processed foods and from fast food restaurants. This paper attempts to provide readers with a better understanding of the fact that not only do food deserts exists, they are threatening the lives of Amer... ... middle of paper ... ...Hobbiss, A. Food Deserts And How To Tackle Them: A Study Of One City's Approach.Health Education Journal, 137-149. Holzman, D. C. (2010, April 1). Food deserts and how to tackle them: a study of one city's approach: White House Proposes Healthy Food Financing Initiative. Environmental Health Perspectives. Health Education Journal June 2000 vol. 59 no. 2 137-149 Ploeg, M. ver; Breneman, V.; Farrigan, T.; Hamrick, K.; Hopkins, D.;Kaufman, P.; Lin, B. H.; Nord, M.; Smith, T.; Williams, R.; Kinnison, Access to affordable and nutritious food measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences : report to Congress ([Rev. Sept. 3, 2009] ed.). (2009). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Shaw, H. J. (2006), Food Deserts: Towards the Development of a Classification. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 88: 231–247.

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