CPP Community Gardens Data Sensor Project

What is a food desert?

What is a food desert?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food deserts are areas where people have limited access to healthful and affordable food (Beaulac, Kristjansson, & Cummins, 2009). This may be due to having a low income or having to travel farther to find healthful food options. Community gardens can provide neighborhoods and communities with access to local spaces that can be cultivated for the growth of communally grown fruits and vegetables that can provide food and support to members of that community. 

Providing more accessible communally grown produce will help to reduce some of the main health impacts of food deserts: obesity and diabetes. Based on research done by the United States Department of Agriculture, in 2012 an estimate of around 23 million people lived in a total of 6, 529 food desert communities (Karpyn et al., 2019). Since then this number has only increased, elevating the obesity rate in not only adults, but children as well. According to PBS News Hour, low-income preschool children are significantly impacted by food deserts (PBS, 2011). By playing a role in lowering the amount of food deserts, not only can community gardens help provide more accessible and healthful food options, they also can encourage both adults and children to stay active and connect with their community. 

 

USDA Economic Research Service: 

The Food Access Research Atlas

The Food Access Research Atlas is a data product offered by the USDA that: 

  • Presents an overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility
  • Provides food access data for populations within census tracts
  • Offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes
  • View the Food Access Research Atlas

For more information visit the USDA Economic Research: Food Access Research Atlas webpage.

 

References

Beaulac J, Kristjansson E, Cummins S. (2009, Jul 8) A systematic review of food deserts, 1966-2007. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0163.htm

Karpyn, A. E., Riser, D., Tracy, T., Wang, R., & Shen, Y. E. (2019). The changing landscape of food deserts. UNSCN nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7299236/.

PBS News Hour. (2011, June 29). The socio-economic significance of food deserts. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-socio-economic-significance-of-food-deserts.

USDA. (2022, December 15). USDA ERS - Food Access Research Atlas. Usda.gov. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/

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