Columnist Austin Miles discusses how food insecurity plagues Appalachia, but food deserts alone are not to blame.
Food insecurity has become a prevalent problem throughout Appalachia. Food deserts — areas characterized by food insecurity and a lack of access to nutritious foods — have cropped up across the region. A map made by the Appalachian Regional Commission using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture demonstrates how those food deserts dot, and sometimes flood, the landscape. Around Athens the map depicts a food desert sprawled red on top of a fair portion of the county, including parts of the city itself.
The dearth of access to foods necessary for a healthy diet within food deserts is thought to exacerbate the health- and diet-related social disparities. However, lack of access alone is not the problem. No matter the number of grocery stores or Whole Foods thrown at the problem, food insecurity will not disappear.
A study funded by the Public Policy Institute of California found that access to healthy foods does not seem to play a role in socioeconomic or racial differences in diet or health. Poor neighborhoods — those more likely to be affected by food insecurity — contained twice as many fast food restaurants and convenience stores as their wealthier counterparts, but they also have nearly twice as many grocery stores per square mile. Another study came to a similar conclusion: There is no relationship between diet and the type of food accessible to participants in the survey.
Those studies highlight the relative unimportance of access. Those struck with food insecurity will not be any better off with nearby grocery stores if they cannot afford safe, nutritious food, nor if they do not have the time nor kitchenware to prepare it. How then can we alleviate food insecurity and create a just and equitable food system? I think that Community Food Initiatives here in Athens has at least part of the solution.
I wrote last week that the local food system in Athens is not entirely sustainable because it is not equitable. The 30 Mile Meal, like other local food projects, has generally failed to create an equitable system.
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But the initiative's efforts to tackle issues related to food justice in the area through programs such as its donation station, community gardens and seed company help to ensure that the Athens’s local food system is more inclusive and fair. By providing gardening and cooking education, increasing access to cheap local food through its gardening program and donations, and starting a seed saving program, Community Food Initiatives helped begin to build a sense of resilience within communities in the area and erode away food insecurity.
All without building a single grocery store.
Austin Miles is a senior studying biology. Have you worked with Community Food Initiatives? Email him at am343011@ohio.edu.
