Food Deserts: Redressing a Harvest of Neglect
2008-06-09
By Donna Johnson and Boyd Klingler
When we think of environmental hazards that threaten our health, the overpowering smell of incinerators and the unshakable presence of dump sites usually come to mind. But one specific socio-economic phenomenon indicates that an even more significant risk to our life expectancy is hiding in plain sight--as close as the dinner table.
“Food deserts,” portions of large urban areas where there is no, or very remote access to healthy, abundant food choices, have been forming for decades. They are considerable sections of neighborhoods replete with fast-food joints, gas station mini-marts, and even dollar stores as primary food sources.
Food deserts would remain unnoticed, and continue to go unaddressed, were it not for the ripple effect they’re having on the overall economy in the form of premature deaths, an unhealthy workforce—present and future, and a huge drain on an already strained health care system.
Launch Video!
In economic terms, the preponderance of such situations in major cities across the country illustrates an inexcusable market failure at the hands of the retail food industry. Reports and commentary gathered from researchers, local officials and community activists in Philadelphia, South Los Angeles and Chicago tend to support the notion of economic racism with almost identical language.
When food retailers decline to take advantage of economic incentives to fill a market demand, it becomes clear, economists say, that other factors are being overlooked.
As large cities across America undergo their own particular forms of revitalization, mixed-income areas are becoming a larger part of the urban landscape. Consequently, food deserts are not just found in low-income neighborhoods. Information from Mari Gallagher Research found three food deserts in Chicago where over half of the two hundred thousand households reviewed earn between $50,000 and $100,000 a year. That’s more than a market misperception.
Failing to respond to the critically important need of supplying healthier food choices in areas where residents have disproportionately poor diets can be seen, however, as less some intentional neglect and more, from a financial standpoint, as a missed opportunity for growth in profitability.
Flawed business models by the food industry which only looked at median family income instead of real demographics and total, aggregate, disposable income were also to blame. The reality is that densely populated urban areas can be more profitable to food retailers than sparsely populated suburbs with higher incomes.
To be fair, the grocery business, which has always operated under the slimmest of margins, has been involved in a full-scale retooling process that is still underway. Niche marketing is the rule of the day where stores are customized to appeal to consumer needs based on value, convenience, or size. Whatever the restructuring, it’s incumbent upon retailers, for their own survival, to have reliable data on the purchasing power of communities that have otherwise gone underserved. It’s doubtful that African-Americans would be spending as much as 93% of their disposable income outside of their communities if those same businesses expanded into their neighborhoods.
The “you go first” attitude of competitive retailers and restaurateurs has so far hampered the efforts of city planners and activists to lure food sellers into eagerly investing. But, armed with accurate market data, more flexible business models, and economic incentive packages, potential partnerships are gradually morphing into commitment.
In a more immediate grass-roots response to the demand for fresher, healthier choices and better access to stores offering more variety, communities nation-wide are exploding with farmer’s markets, community markets and member-owned co-ops.
These types of venues are nothing new, and in no way intended to supplant full-scale grocery stores, but this national resurgence is an obvious reflection of the concern over mounting public health problems involving obesity, adult-diabetes in children and cardiovascular disease plaguing African-American and Latino communities of all income strata.
On the predominantly-black north side of Minneapolis is a food desert where only one large chain grocery store serves a population of 68,000 residents. There is, however, a farmer’s market located on the edge of north Minneapolis that it shares with a growing Southeast Asian population. Their presence has created a demand for many of the same foods consumed by African-Americans, including mustard greens, collard greens, okra, chilies, and fresh fruits and vegetables. This group, known as the Hmong, (pronounced mung)—resettled in the United States after the Vietnam War—also has a large standing in Milwaukee’s farmer’s markets where, similarly, their cultural foodstuffs attract a large African-American patronage on any given Sunday.
Two out of the four communities in Chicago’s historic Bronzeville area—home to 30,000 residents—are identified as food deserts. Two weeks ago, Bronzeville opened its first so-called “community market,” a hybrid of fresh and prepared foods from local farmers and regional produce resellers in the Grand Boulevard community.
South Los Angeles is a food desert, home to upwards of 500,000 inhabitants with just three large grocery stores to serve them all. Representatives there are expecting the passage of an ordinance barring the establishment of any new fast-food restaurants in their area for at least a year. This summer, the community’s farmer’s market that started the fresh food initiative there, will celebrate its fifth anniversary.
The Philadelphia Food Trust has been going strong since 1992 and now boasts 30 farmer’s markets in its 5-county region. All of these endeavors make, or will be set up for making EBT, WIC, debit and credit card transactions, allowing for the most widespread participation among community members as possible.
These enterprises in a sense reflect communities coming full circle from the days of push-cart merchants and outdoor bazaars hawking their wares in settings where local residents could gather to exchange the latest news and gossip. In addition to providing an oasis of healthier food choices, there is an emotional component to these markets that fosters inclusion and can relieve feelings of social isolation, an all-too-common experience of urban life. That, in and of itself, is a step toward healthier living.
Donna Johnson and Boyd Klingler are Giving You the BusinessSM, in an occasional column for EbonyJet.com. Send your business and finance-related questions to our e-mailbag.