New research from Tufts University and a USDA economist published by the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review casts doubt on the popular theory surrounding so-called food deserts in the U.S. The concept of a “food desert” originated in the United Kingdom, where it was known as a populated area with little or no retail…
Is Walmart’s March into Cities Helping or Hurting?
Having saturated the rural landscape, shuttering local stores in small town America along the way, now, in the wake of stagnant sales and increased competition, Walmart desperately needs to expand into urban markets.
And what better urban market than one full of eight million people? While the big box retailer is eager to enter…
USDA Intros Online Tool for Locating Food Deserts
A new Internet-based mapping tool pinpoints the location of what the U.S. government calls “food deserts.”
The online Food Desert Locator, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS), was unveiled Monday.
Simply put, food deserts are areas where people have limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.
Under the …
USDA Announces Grants to Stop Hunger
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced yesterday that the agency was awarding grants to end hunger in America.
According to a press release, USDA will invest in research, planning, and other hunger-relief activities through the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008–or Farm Bill, which includes authorization for $5 million in funding …
Few Healthy Food Choices in Urban Food Deserts
Residents of urban food deserts, typically low income neighborhoods, have to deal with limited healthy food choices, in addition to perhaps more obvious disadvantages of life there. A food desert is generally defined as a location where residents have to travel twice as far to get to the nearest supermarket as their peers in wealthier …
Gillibrand Tackles Food Deserts
On Monday Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) introduced legislation to combat ‘food deserts’ prevalent throughout urban and rural communities across the United States.
A food desert is a large and isolated geographic area where mainstream grocery stores and access to fresh produce are absent or distant. The legislation would invest $1…