Research Paper Food Desert

Words: 542

Pages: 3

Open Document

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 people in poverty. I have never been to Las Vegas myself, so all that I am going off it movies (the Hangover) to judge how the dynamic of the city works. When I first began to plot each of the grocery stores in Las Vegas, I noticed that many …show more content…
However, many of the grocery stores are found in the southern side of the city while only a few in northern areas. Looking at the map having to do with income, I was surprised to see the income of where the majority of the grocery stores are. This idea of food deserts is that lower income areas will have less accessibility to fresh products and specifically grocery stores. This is simply not the case with respect to Las Vegas. In fact, many of the grocery stores are found within a neighborhood that has either below average or average income compared with the rest of the United States and especially in the city of Las Vegas. This really surprises me. I suspect that the reason of that there is a low-income average in the areas of grocery stores is because many are located in business rather than residential areas. As you would expect, the areas closer to the main freeways and highways would cost less to own and therefor, house people with a lower comparative income. When we look at the income map compared to the food desert map, we also see similar to what we saw with the average

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…

Words 425 - Pages 2

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…

Words 2000 - Pages 8

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…

Words 584 - Pages 3

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…

Words 1131 - Pages 5

Food Desert Research Paper

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…

Words 587 - Pages 3

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…

Words 716 - Pages 3

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…

Words 419 - Pages 2

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…

Words 528 - Pages 3

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…

Words 530 - Pages 3

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…

Words 584 - Pages 3