1. Food desert A food desert is any area in the industrialized world where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain.
These groceries cost three times what they would in a typical suburban grocery store. Less healthy food is far more affordable in an urban convenience store. This is having an impact on the health of people living in cities.
A convenience store culinary creation--avocado and shrimp on a toasted whole grain bagel drizzled with olive oil. Ingredients were gathered from various convenience stores along Wells Street and Wisconsin Avenue....
Dining recommendations for Milwaukee's West Side (University Hill): what Marquette students and their neighbors eat....
High priced and old: produce from a neighborhood convenience store...
POST SCRIPT
The closest grocery store on foot: MetroMart (like Wegmans for folks on the East Coast and just as pricey). Metromart is located 1.6 mile from Milwaukee's West Side. A round trip bus ride downtown will cost you $4.50.
For more on the complexity of food deserts, friend and fellow AAAS Fellow wrote a great article in the LA Times this summer: http://tinyurl.com/3tegkfk. The problem extends beyond the lack of fresh food in some city neighborhoods; it's also a proliferation of fast food restaurants in the inner city. Given the choice of fresh food or fast food, according to Daniela Hernandez's article, people choose the latter.
