The US Department of Agriculture measures food access by census tract. It counts low-income urban tracts where many residents live more than one mile from a supermarket, or rural tracts where they live more than 10 miles away. In 2019, about 19 million people, roughly 6% of the US population, lived in low-income, low-access areas, according to the USDA.
These areas did not appear by chance. When white families and capital left cities after World War II, supermarket chains followed them to the suburbs. Redlining and disinvestment left Black neighborhoods with corner stores and fast food instead. Rural areas, including many tribal lands, face long drives to the nearest grocery.
Many organizers prefer the term food apartheid. A desert sounds natural, while the lack of fresh food in these neighborhoods was produced by policy and business decisions. Solutions range from community gardens and co-ops to public financing for grocery stores and stronger SNAP benefits.