Environmental Health Food Desert Definition. Food desert are found in areas that lack access to affordable vegetables low fat milk fruits whole grains and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet Many Americans living in minority low income or rural areas are subjected to food deserts and may be unable to access healthy affordable foods leaving their diets lacking essential nutrients CDC 2017 Food desert is a low income census tract where a substantial number of residents who have low access to a large grocery store Low income tracts is where at least 20 percent of the population have an income below the federal poverty levels for a family size Tracts qualify as a low access tract if at least 33 percent of the population live more than a mile from a large grocery store For rural census tracts the distance is more than 10 miles USDA 2017 Food Deserts Existence Discussion The reasons why food desert exist is because the minority low income and rural areas are often the sites where food deserts exist They have a higher number of convenience stores and lack large retail food markets where healthy foods are less more likely to be available Americans have limited access to affordable nutritious food because they do not live near a large grocery store or supermarket The only common theme among food desert definition is that there is limited access CDC 2017 Food Deserts Health Implications The health implications of food deserts are excessive exposure to limited access to healthier options and unhealthy food sources which may explain the reason why high prevalence of obesity have been observed in many communities Such associations have been described not only in the United Kingdom but also in America Sweden Canada the Netherlands and Australia where people residing in a deprived or low income area are independently associated with poor quality diets and prevalence to obesity Hilmers et al 2012 Food Access Environmental Justice Issue
