The Food Desert You Know Nothing About
In 2011 the USDA had a brilliant plan to build awareness of the food desert problem in the country. The plan involved an interactive map, displaying all the Food Deserts in the nation. Certainly the idea was pioneering, finally there existed one geographic targeting source for any agency trying to address Food Access, or related problems, across the country. The only unusual thing is that now only small pockets of food deserts exist in New York City, mostly near parks or industrial zones.
The health and obesity problem is real in N.Y.C. Real enough for the Mayor, and at least one candidate trying to replace him, to both have initiatives trying to address it.
Race also inevitably compounds the issue. Obesity nationwide is significantly more common in communities of color, and a Department of Health study demonstrates that the trend holds true in our city. In NYC, communities of color also tend to be earn the lowest annual incomes.Where you have obesity, and many low income earners, you probably have poor access to food for one reason or another. The most common issue nationally is poor transportation options to get to healthy food sources such as supermarkets.
This is where the USDA's idea lost its relevance to New York City. In their identification, the USDA seems to have relied on the premise that food deserts only exist if you're low income, and live a certain distance from a supermarket.
But "food desert" isn't the accurate description for the problem millions of New Yorkers probably have. What we're in is more so a "food swamp" than it is a "food desert."A food swamp is somewhere with easy access to food, but that access is either overwhelmingly to unhealthy options, or to supermarkets with sub-par quality food.The phenomenon has been studied repeatedly, including by the city's Department of Health. In the DOH study three neighborhoods were examined, two of which were in Harlem: East Harlem, Central Harlem, and the third was the Upper East Side. Both East and Central Harlem are poorer communities, with residents mostly of color. They also have a total average obesity rate of 29%, significantly above the city's 22% average.
What the DOH found may be unsurprising to residents, but probably a shock to the USDA researchers. First, both East and Central Harlem had more bodegas and less supermarkets than the Upper East Side. Not only that, bodegas carrying healthy foods were less likely to exist in East and Central Harlem, despite bodegas being more common in those neighborhoods. Finally, although restaurants existed in all three neighborhoods, fast food was far more common in East and Central Harlem than in the Upper East Side.Poor people, many of whom are obese, living within close proximity to unhealthy, relatively cheap food options that outnumber healthier options: what the DOH had investigated, and essentially defined, was a "Food Swamp." And although slightly different from a "Food Desert," that difference is what defines whether N.Y.C. is just a hotbed of poor decision making, or an inconvenient trap.
The DOH didn't even get into the meat of supermarket food quality. Further investigation would have probably found significant differences in the healthy options available, and the quality of packaging and storage of food between supermarkets in low vs. high income neighborhoods.An apple from C-Town is not the same as an apple from Trader Joe's.A similar study confirmed the DOH's findings. Food swamps were significantly more common in Black and Latino neighborhoods across the city.
Some have argued that food deserts aren't a problem in the city. To their credit, they've based a large part of their opinion on the USDA's map, and anecdotal evidence without the appropriate context. When you understand what a "food swamp" is, you can no longer ask people if they have access to produce. You need to ask them, as a person working or often looking for work, which is more convenient for your lifestyle: fast food or raw produce? Which is easier for you to access and consume during a normal day?
As minorities, especially Latinos, become a growing future majority in the city, we need to ask these same questions of people's children. I wouldn't be surprised to see a negative correlation between age and fast food consumption, especially as more minorities are forced to populate food swamps due to socioeconomic barriers to residing in other neighborhoods.
