Many of us give little thought to how easy it is to hop in our cars and motor down to the grocery store for our food. Not everyone in the U.S. is fortunate enough to have convenient transportation, let alone access to fresh, healthy food at a reasonable cost. In 2009 the USDA released a study (pdf) showing that 2.3 million households (that's households, not individuals) don't have access to a car and live more than a mile from a supermarket. Many of these families have to get their food from more expensive convenience stores with less selection, lower quality and higher prices. Essentially, they live in food deserts.A map from the study offers a visual reflection of the data from the report, with some counties having more than 10% of households fall into this food desert category.
You can view an interactive version of the map via Slate.
Food is such an integral and essential part of our lives that it's an important topic for discussion with students. Pair this report (and the map) with resources like the Food Environment Atlas, also from the USDA, and a report on food insecurity and food deserts in the Santa Clara County region of California, created by our friends at the Food Empowerment Project.
~ Marsha
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