Food Desert Research Paper

Words: 528
Pages: 3

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 of food deserts in the United States is an atrocious problem that must have more focus in order to be resolved. People living in food deserts have poor access to healthy foods, which causes them to eat processed food. In the article “Jettie’s Story: My Life In A Food Desert” from The American Heart …show more content…
Over time, the habit of eating these damaging foods can cause detrimental effects to one’s health. Being so far away from fresh foods has very harmful effects on the community. As cited on Bonton’s website, a former food desert in south Dallas, the cardio-vascular disease rate is 54% higher and the diabetes rate is 45% higher than the city of Dallas. Based on disease rates this high, simply living in a food desert could shorten a person's life. This fatal outcome applies to as many as 19 million Americans, as claimed by the United States Department of Agriculture. Food deserts must be put to an end because the harm that they cause is far too much. Some may think that food deserts are not their problem, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Those living in food deserts develop many severe illnesses that need medical attention, but they cannot afford to pay for the expenses. According to The National Library of Medicine, the average lifetime cost to treat type two diabetes for the ages of 25 to 44 is