Although food access issues are not isolated to food deserts (Coveney et al., 2009), I wanted to focus my food justice challenge in this area because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers significant portions of Oregon and even multiple neighborhoods around Eugene food deserts. If a person in an urban setting lives more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store, he/she lives in a food desert, according to the USDA. This data is based on census tract information collected by the USDA beginning in 2008 after The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act required the department to analyze food access in America. (Click link for USDA food desert locator map.)

Food desert is a term that was first used in the 1990s in the United Kingdom and has been defined differently across various governments and scholars since then (Walker et al., 2010). “Residents of food deserts lack either physical and/or economic access to retail outlets offering a wide range of fresh and nutritious food” (Sparks et al., 2011, p. 1717) and are commonly forced to purchase groceries from smaller stores where fruits and vegetables are in short supply and cost more than at supermarkets (Larsen et al., 2009). These areas can be either rural or urban and are most often where people living in poverty reside. If they are more urban, like Eugene, fast food restaurants tend to dominate the dining out options there as well.

I am fortunate to live within walking distance of two grocery stores so I developed specific rules that I must follow for one week in order to simulate a food desert experience. My proximity to these grocery stores does not mean that others living in my neighborhood have the same access I do, though, because access also relates to income and physical ability. Because I have severe allergies to gluten and dairy, I also want to experience and understand what it’s like to live in an area where alternative food options are not available to people with these types of allergies. Below is an outline of the rules that are based on key characteristics of a food desert such as if people don’t drive (or travel a longer distance), they will pay more for food and when people living in these areas can afford to eat out, their food options are usually unhealthy (Cruz, 2015).

  1. Start out the week with no fresh food in the refrigerator.
  2. Grocery shop only at the LN Minit Market near campus and Winco Foods in Springfield, as these locations require 40-minute and 80-minute round trip combined walking/bus commutes, respectively. 
  3. Must price compare at both locations and consider travel time into reflection.
  4. Only take the bus and/or walk to these destinations.
  5. If going out to eat, only eat at the McDonald’s very near my home.

To tie in my media studies focus, I also plan to be aware of billboards and other ads near both food marts and note what they are saying about food or identify what kind of food they are selling. I plan to replicate a piece of a 2011 study by Leone et. al on food deserts, which is to use a checklist of 10 fruits and 10 veggies to better understand availability of common fresh produce items at either the LN Minit Mart or Winco. The list is comprised of the following: apples, bananas, cantaloupe, grapes, honeydew, oranges, peaches, pears, strawberries and watermelon for fruit and broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, sweet peppers and tomatoes for vegetables. The Leone et. al study also looked for low-fat milk and whole wheat bread, and instead I will be looking for non-dairy milk and gluten-free bread. 

Lastly, I will be thinking about the following key themes as I move through this experience: access (distance/variability of healthy options/work schedule constraints), price (transportation fees, total food bill), knowledge around what healthy eating is and pre-existing limitations (allergies/disabilities).

Bibliography:

  • Coveney, J., & O’Dwyer, L. A. (2009). Effects mobility and location on food access. Health & Place, 15, 45-55.
  • Cruz, I. (2015). Five things you probably didn’t know about living in a food desert. Retrieved from: http://civileats.com/2015/07/24/growing-up-in-a-food-desert-5-things-you-should-know/
  • Larsen, K., & Gilliland, J. (2009). A farmers’ market in a food desert: Evaluating impacts on the price and availability of healthy food. Health & Place, 15, 1158-1162.
  • Leone, A. F., Rigby, S., Betterley, C., Park, S., Kurtz, H., Johnson, M., & Lee, J. S. (2011). Store type and demographics influence on the availability and price of healthful foods, Leon County, Florida, 2008. Preventing Chronic Disease, 8(6). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2011/nov/10_0231.htm
  • Sparks, A. L., Bania, N., & Leete, L. (2011). Comparative approaches to measuring food access   in urban areas: The case of Portland, Oregon. Urban Studies, 48(8), 1715-1737.
  • United States Department of Agriculture
  • 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, 876-885.