What are Food Deserts?Food deserts are areas within a community that are devoid of access to nutritious and affordable food. Food deserts play a large role in U.S. food insecurity.
The income level of a community largely determines where food deserts are located. In DC, food deserts are located in the most impoverished areas of DC, which coincidentally have the highest concentration of African Americans in the city. Distance is also an important factor in food deserts. If a grocery store is located far from a home and a family does not have access to a car, then they are forced to rely on convenience stores, which sell fatty, caloric food at marked up prices, to satisfy their food needs.[1] [1] "About the Atlas." Economic Research Service. United States Department of Agriculture, Web. 11 Dec. 2016. <https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/about-the-atlas/>. |
How Will GIS Help Identify Food Deserts in DC?
GIS is a great tool that can be used to address the food desert issue in DC. Using GIS makes it easy to identify where the food deserts are located and which communities they impact the most so that the comprehensive solutions can be developed. The following maps are used to highlight the fact that the African American community in DC is particularly impacted by food deserts.
Map 1: African American Population Distribution in Washington, DC
This GIS choropleth map shows how the African American population is distributed throughout DC in relation to major grocery store locations. Viewers can see that Ward 7 and Ward 8 have the highest concentrations of African Americans, followed by Ward 4 and Ward 5. Interestingly, there are hardly any grocery stores in Ward 7 or Ward 8, which means that the African American population of DC has the least access to grocery stores.
Map 2: 1 Mile Radius
Distance is an important factor that creates food deserts. This map displays a 1 mile zone around each major grocery store. It can be seen that the areas located more than one mile away from major grocery stores are heavily inhabited by African Americans.
Map 3: Euclidian Distance
This map displays the distances around major grocery stores using a Euclidian Distance map. The yellow portions of the map represent all the areas that are within one mile of a major grocery store. The orange areas represent areas within 2 miles of a major grocery store, and so and so forth. Analyzing the map shows that Ward 1 and Ward 6 in particular have a very high access to major grocery stores because almost the entirety of these wards are yellow. Conversely, Ward 7 and Ward 8 have a much less yellow, which means people are located farther away form major grocery stores. Parts of Ward 8 are up to 5 miles away form a major grocery store.
Possible Food Desert Solutions
Based on these maps, it is clear that the DC Food Deserts heavily affect the African American community. Initiatives, such as First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! project help combat food deserts by providing incentives such as tax credits to healthy food realtors that build stores within food desert.[1] Another way to reduce food deserts in DC would be for city planners to create spaces, especially within Wards 7 and 8, that encourage the development of institutions like farmer’s markets. This way, communities will have greater access to fresh food.
[1] "Healthy Communities." Let's Move, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016. <http://www.letsmove.gov/healthy-communities>.
[1] "Healthy Communities." Let's Move, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016. <http://www.letsmove.gov/healthy-communities>.