Food Access and Sovereignty

"Food deserts" describe geographic areas — often low-income urban neighborhoods or remote rural communities — where residents have limited access to affordable, nutritious food, typically measured by distance to a supermarket carrying fresh produce combined with limited transportation and low household income. The USDA's Food Access Research Atlas maps these areas across the United States, historically finding tens of millions of Americans living more than one mile, in urban settings, or ten miles, in rural settings, from the nearest supermarket. Some researchers prefer the term "food swamps" to describe many such neighborhoods, arguing that "desert" understates the problem: these areas are often not so much devoid of food outlets as saturated with fast food restaurants and convenience stores selling energy-dense, nutrient-poor options, alongside a scarcity of retailers offering fresh, healthy alternatives.