Food Desert Research Paper

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While some might argue that individuals have complete control over their food choices, I contend that other factors significantly influence their decisions. Factors such as the presence of food deserts, income levels, and company production can all affect a person's food habits. One might think that a person doesn't eat healthy because they choose the wrong foods to eat. While this is true in some cases, many times people don't have the choice to obtain healthy food options. Some people live in what are known as food deserts, where there are limited food options. “Food deserts can be described as geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food options (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) is restricted or nonexistent …show more content…
Low income families are much more likely to live in food deserts where healthy food is hard to come across, but contain fast food places that sell foods that are incredibly unhealthy. It is well known that fast food places like McDonalds are much cheaper than going to the supermarket and buying groceries. “For instance, while the overall price of fruits and vegetables in the US increased by nearly 75 percent between 1989 and 2005, the price of fatty foods dropped by more than 26 percent during the same period” (“Food Deserts”). Families with low income are much more likely to steer towards fast food because it is cheaper, faster than cooking and also can sustain a person's hunger. In an Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels, U.S. Average, December 19 it shows that a family of 4 on a low cost plan is almost $200 a month ( “USDA” graph). Knowing that a low cost plan is still almost an entire week's paycheck for some families, it is easy to understand why a family would choose cheap food options even if they are unhealthy. While this is an easier option for low-income families, there are many effects on those families'

Food Desert Research Paper

Policy i FOOD DESERT Abstract Food deserts are urban as well as rural areas where a quality amount of adequate nutritional food is hard to come by. In many instances, people may live within a few blocks of fast food restaurants, but in order to get to a grocery store they may have to travel many miles. The people who live within these food deserts are often considered low income and are ethnically minorities. This research project is a qualitative exploratory study that analyses the relationship…

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Food Desert Research Paper

comes to mind when you hear the words “food desert”? Do you imagine a barren land where tumbleweeds roll across parched and cracked soil and where cacti, like an actual desert, occasionally dot the landscape? Do you see vultures circling their poor, recently deceased prey spotted from cloudless skies, a land seemingly desolate of life and resources? Contrary to what you may think, food deserts refer to areas lacking access to nutritious and affordable food, the term first being used in the early…

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Food Desert Research Paper

Food Deserts Impact on Food Access Even with food delivery and assistance programs thirty-three percent of people living in the U.S. do not have easy access to food. This can cause many health issues and people are able to live a long, happy life. Where you live has a large impact on your ability to buy and eat healthy food. Areas called food deserts are places where residents struggle to consume nutritious foods. Living in a food desert can cause food insecurity because of a shortage of healthy…

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Food Deserts Research Paper

Thesis: Even though Government has created food plans that show eating healthy can be done on a limited budget, low income families cannot eat healthy because money, time, inadequate kitchen facilities, knowledge of how to prepare healthy diets, and living in "Food Deserts", are all affecting the outcome. According to an article on the US National Library of Medicine Website titled, "Can Low-Income Americans Afford a Healthy Diet?", it is a proven fact that the lower the income of the household…

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Research Paper Food Desert

The idea of a food desert is exactly what it sounds like. A food desert, defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, is an area in which there is a deficiency of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, in one particular, usually impoverished, area. I chose to use the city of Las Vegas, Nevada to focus on for this project. I wanted to see if the ‘high-roller’ life style that everyone envisions when going to Vegas is so skewed that it leaves at least an area of the surrounding…

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Food Desert Research Paper

Access to healthy food is a fundamental human right, but can be complicated when geography is involved. In today’s world, many of us can access nutritious food most of the time. We can do this because we live in areas where supermarkets are just a drive away. Some places in the United States don’t have the luxury of doing so. People in these areas find it hard to get healthy food because they may live far away from a supermarket and don’t have the provisions to reach one. A person's geographical…

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Food Desert Research Paper

state in demand of food production to have food deserts? Long beach Long Beach is the second-largest city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Food deserts can be described as urban geographic areas where residents’ access to affordable, healthy food options (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) is restricted or nonexistent due to the absence of grocery stores within convenient travelling distance. The city of long beach has a population of 470,140, which is a food desert. Such a large…

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Food Desert Research Paper

Food deserts are areas where people are isolated from nutritious food. According to Britanica, this term originated during the 1990s in Scotland to describe people that had a lack of healthy food in public housing developments. Now, it is used generally to describe poor communities where the residents do not have access to healthy or fresh foods. Without easy and affordable access to grocery stores, people who live in these areas face an increased amount of life-threatening diseases. The existence…

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Food Desert Research Paper

28.43% of opportunity zones are food deserts. Food deserts and Opportunity zone maps Food deserts are areas where access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food is limited or non-existent. However, many people who live in a food desert have serious health implications. The government should fund communities to help eliminate food deserts because people should have a large, fresh, and nutritious selection of foods, and live fairly close to a grocery store or produce store. The government should fund…

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Food Desert Research Paper

A food desert is a part of the country where people do not have easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables because of the lack of farmers’ markets, healthy food stands, and grocery stores. Because of this lack of fresh produce, it is very hard for people in these areas to eat healthy. Since food deserts are such a big issue, there are many individuals and organizations trying to help supply these people with fresh fruits and vegetables so they can live a longer and healthier life. Food deserts have…

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