Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works a brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren Volke bomb here. The United States still struggles
Speaker 1: to feed people adequately. According to a new analysis by
Speaker 1: the nonprofit organization Reinvestment Fund, seventeen point six million Americans
Speaker 1: lack access to healthy food. It's not all bad news.
Speaker 1: They analyzed limited supermarket areas or l says, often called
Speaker 1: food deserts. Their analysis shows that in most states, access
Speaker 1: to healthy food has improved overall during the past several years.
Speaker 1: Even in states with significant population growth, such as Florida
Speaker 1: and Arizona, the percentage of people who lived in alisas
Speaker 1: decreased from six point eight percent to five point six
Speaker 1: percent in six That means three point one million people
Speaker 1: have better access to fresh foods than they used to,
Speaker 1: but progress hasn't been consistent across the country. Even though
Speaker 1: grossery stores aren't the only places to get fresh food.
Speaker 1: Other retailers in hooting drug stores and corner stores. Health
Speaker 1: experts note that food prices at grocery stores are lower
Speaker 1: than those at smaller stores, and that large clubs like
Speaker 1: Costcode Sam's typically require membership fees that may be a
Speaker 1: barrier for some families. Plus, when there are fewer grocery
Speaker 1: stores in a given area, food prices are typically higher. Additionally,
Speaker 1: the analysis found that ls as are disproportionately found in
Speaker 1: areas where the demographics include more people with low incomes,
Speaker 1: people in poverty, and people of color. For example, food
Speaker 1: access improved overall in Rhode Island, the number of people
Speaker 1: living in alisas they're dropped thirty eight percent between twenty
Speaker 1: six but of Rhode Islands remaining ALISA population is low
Speaker 1: income residents. Access to healthy food is key for good
Speaker 1: health and quality of life. People who live in areas
Speaker 1: with poor access to healthy food are fifty percent less
Speaker 1: likely to have a good quality diet. In communities with
Speaker 1: good access to healthy food, there's a reduced incidence of diabetes,
Speaker 1: for example. Food access also impacts other health conditions, such
Speaker 1: as cardiovascular disease and even some types of cancer. The
Speaker 1: Reinvestment Fund analysis identifies low supermarket areas by looking at
Speaker 1: criteria such as income, car ownership rates, and the distance
Speaker 1: to existing grocery stores, making adjustments for differences in rural
Speaker 1: and urban areas. Still, residents of lsays travel almost twice
Speaker 1: as far to get to grocery stores as residents in
Speaker 1: places with good access to healthy food even when there
Speaker 1: is a similar population density and car ownership. Retailers typically
Speaker 1: place stores in areas where there's enough demand to sustain operations,
Speaker 1: such as a denser population with a higher income. Low
Speaker 1: income or rural areas don't offer those characteristics to attract
Speaker 1: retailers without other incentives, and in urban areas, retailers face
Speaker 1: barriers such as real estate costs, limited parking space for customers,
Speaker 1: and traffic issues which can make it hard for large
Speaker 1: trucks to enter and make regular deliveries. The LSA analysis
Speaker 1: by the Reinvestment Fund will help direct government assistance to
Speaker 1: communities to help bring grocery stores and healthy food retailers
Speaker 1: to underserved communities through the government's Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
Speaker 1: In the past ten years, drug stores such as Walgreens
Speaker 1: have made efforts to stock limited grocery items including milk, eggs,
Speaker 1: and fruit, calling these efforts a food oasis to combat
Speaker 1: limited access in food deserts, and some communities address food
Speaker 1: access through grassroots efforts such as mobile grocery stores, community gardens,
Speaker 1: and farmers markets. For example, in Chicago, an urban farming
Speaker 1: program that started back in sen with just a few
Speaker 1: acres of land and a converted bus served its ten
Speaker 1: thousand customer As of August. The program, called Fresh Moves
Speaker 1: Mobile Market, serves senior centers, schools, and other locations on
Speaker 1: Chicago's South and West sides weekly, focusing specifically on areas
Speaker 1: with no access to fresh foods. Today's episode was written
Speaker 1: by Sean Chavis and produced by Tyler Clang. Check out
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