Not every neighborhood has a grocery store; some areas are referred to as food deserts – an area a half mile or more away from a supermarket – that require people to cover distances hard to travel without a car. While helpful in the past to give a name to this issue, the term food desert is being gradually replaced by the terms low-access area and food apartheid. Some major issues with calling an area a food desert is that it conjures up the image of a place that has nothing, is naturally occurring, and thus cannot be challenged.
As someone who grew up in what was apparently a food desert, I agree with this change in language. Language is one of the necessary tools we need to utilize in the fight against inequality. Without the proper ways to articulate the symptoms it becomes harder to identify the issue and create solutions. Because of the harshness of the term food desert, I never realized that I had grown up living in what fits the definition of one. My neighborhood wasn’t barren or devoid of life, we had corner stores and bodegas, and restaurants. Utility shopping carts and long train rides were just a normal part of food shopping to me. Food desert also implies that the affected area is isolated, or can only exist in small rural areas. Low food access can be seen in impoverished areas regardless of if they're urban or rural. The USDA estimates that 19 million Americans are living in low-access areas. A perfect, yet unfortunate example of an urban area with low access would be Buffalo, New York.
Low income and low access come hand in hand. Buffalo is one of the poorest cities in America, and this status is clearly reflected in its food access. Most of Buffalo fits the definition of being a low-access area. This can be seen especially in Buffalo's East side. Low-access areas are commonly found on the East sides of cities. In mid-latitudes, prevailing winds usually blow West to East, pushing pollutants in that direction. Low access is a result of the city infrastructure, community wealth, and lack of investment just as much as it's a result of nature. Our reaction to a naturally occurring phenomenon has been the same throughout history. As a result of pollution, the East Side of a city becomes less desirable, and wealthier residents move out. With the shift in the residents comes a shift in the environment. Stores begin to move with wealth. Buffalo had this exact trend in the 1980s; as the population of Buffalo declined and wealth shifted East, so did the stores. Specifically, grocery stores moved away from the East Side of Buffalo, where the majority of residents are Black, and relocated East. As a result, the environment formed in Buffalo was one where no one was willing to serve the community that was left behind. It is simply a fact for developers that building a grocery store in an area with low-income people won’t generate profit.
Buffalo residents took the matter into their own hands and lobbied for six years to get the Tops supermarket on the East Side. The opening of the Tops market was the result of East Side residents’ perseverance and dedication to the community. It seems as though introducing new stores to areas is the solution, but the unfortunate reality is that it's not that simple. Just as places can be created, they can also be destroyed. On May 14th, 2022, ten people were killed in the Tops market on Jefferson. Beyond being a tragedy, the shooting worsened the already low access in the area.
Low-access areas are by no means naturally occurring. Every city has its “undesirable areas” and low access is a result of a lack of desirability, which then, in turn, leads to choices that reinforce this undesirability, such as refusing to build stores in the area. When we look at areas with low access, it's hard to see an instant connection between access to food and environmental justice. Other factors, like businesses not wanting to establish themselves in the area, the stigma around certain neighborhoods, and a lack of collective wealth are more obvious connections. However, cities are inherently their own environments, shaped by the natural world, and these are all arguably issues that are a result of a poor city environment. As this area of undesirability is initially created by humans, it is also enforced by humans. There is now a cycle: the area is lacking, and no one desires to change it, so, therefore, it will only worsen.
Low-access areas don't just need new stores; improving access means changing the city environment. Places are never permanent, but a community often outlasts any physical setting. Creating community gardens, increasing access to fresh produce, and building community wealth are all solutions that require collective action, and ultimately increase access. Buffalo has seen multiple initiatives: food recovery networks, food pantries, community centers, and community stores. A wellness center with a garden and co-op are planned projects for Buffalo that received funding from donations after the shooting. America should not need tragedy to fuel change, but Buffalo was in the spotlight as an example of how severe low access can be. With that spotlight came the opportunity and push for change, and it isn't just happening here. Across America, there has been a rise in food councils and activism that help subsidize the cost of fresh produce, put more diverse goods into existing corner stores, and create spaces for community gardens. When we combine these solutions with lobbying for change in city infrastructure, higher access is not a far-off future.
2019 Map from USDA's Food Access Research Atlas. Focuses on access in Buffalo and surrounding areas.
Works cited:
Erie’s Think Tank , www.jeserie.org/uploads/Food%20Deserts%20Essay%20FINAL%20EDITED%20VERSION.pdf. Accessed 11 May 2023
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“Food Access Research Atlas.” USDA ERS - Food Access Research Atlas, www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/. Accessed 11 May 2023.
Meyersohn, Nathaniel. “The Long Struggle to Bring a Supermarket to a Nearly All-Black Buffalo Neighborhood | CNN Business.” CNN, 19 May 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/
05/19/business/buffalo-east-side-history-tops-market/index.html.
Nicholeborchard. “Why Improving Food Access in Buffalo Neighborhoods Won’t Be a ‘One-Size-Fits-All Solution.’” Double Up Food Bucks NYS, 16 Aug. 2022, doubleupnys.com/why-improving-food-access-in-buffalo-neighborhoods-wont-be-a-one-size-fits-all-solution/.
Sevilla, Nina.
“Food Apartheid: Racialized Access to Healthy Affordable Food.” Be a Force for the Future, 2 Apr. 2021, www.nrdc.org/bio/nina-sevilla/food-apartheid-racialized-access-healthy-affordable-food#:~:text=Food%20deserts%2C%20in%20contrast%2C%20are,policies%20rooted%20in%20white%20supremacy.