Why Grocery Stores Are Avoiding Black Neighborhoods

CNBC

22 Aug 202025:12

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video script addresses the silent crisis of food deserts in America, where 19 million people, often in communities of color and poverty, lack access to healthy, affordable food. It explores the historical roots, economic challenges, and health implications of this issue, highlighting efforts like Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' campaign and the role of major retailers. The script also discusses the impact of COVID-19 on food security and the complexities of demand-side factors in addressing food deserts.

Takeaways

🌐 The COVID-19 pandemic and protests against police brutality have highlighted the silent crisis of food deserts, which are areas with limited access to healthy and affordable food, particularly impacting vulnerable communities.
🏪 The USDA defines a food desert as an area where at least a third of the population lives more than one mile from a supermarket in urban areas or more than 10 miles in rural areas, often characterized by higher poverty levels.
📈 Approximately 19 million Americans live in food deserts, with research from Johns Hopkins indicating that these areas disproportionately affect people of color.
🛒 The lack of access to full-service grocery stores in food deserts often leads to reliance on processed and junk food, contributing to chronic illnesses and health disparities.
🏘️ Food deserts emerged due to historical discriminatory housing practices and economic shifts, with supermarkets moving to suburban areas and leaving urban areas underserved.
🛍️ Grocery stores have been resistant to investing in underserved communities due to increased costs, difficulty securing loans, higher insurance rates, and lower profit margins.
🏢 Major retailers like Walmart and Kroger have faced criticism for not adequately addressing the needs of food deserts, with some even closing stores in low-income areas.
💰 Economic development policies often overlook areas of greatest need in favor of areas with higher growth potential, further exacerbating the issue of food deserts.
🍏 The presence of dollar stores in food deserts, while providing some access to food, typically lacks fresh produce and contributes to unhealthy dietary habits.
🌱 Efforts to combat food deserts, such as the Let's Move campaign initiated by Michelle Obama, have had limited success, with goals to expand grocery stores in underserved areas not fully met.
🔄 The debate around food deserts includes discussions on supply and demand factors, with some arguing that even with better access to grocery stores, eating habits may not change due to individual preferences and socioeconomic influences.

Q & A

What is the definition of a 'food desert' according to the USDA?
-The USDA defines a 'food desert' as an area where at least a third of the population lives more than one mile away from a supermarket in urban areas, or more than 10 miles in rural areas, typically characterized by higher levels of poverty and limited access to healthy and affordable food.
How does the lack of access to healthy food in food deserts impact the health of residents?
-Food deserts can be detrimental to residents' health, as limited access to fresh and nutritious food often leads to a reliance on processed and junk food, which in turn can contribute to chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
What was the goal of Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' campaign in relation to food deserts?
-The goal of Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' campaign was to eliminate food deserts within seven years by increasing access to healthy, affordable food options in underserved communities.
What are some of the challenges grocery stores face when considering opening in a food desert?
-Challenges include increased costs due to the lack of existing investments in these areas, difficulty in securing loans, higher insurance rates, and resistance from big commercial developers to invest in underserved communities.
Why have some of America's largest grocery chains been hesitant to invest in food deserts?
-Some reasons include the higher costs of opening in areas with sparse investments, difficulty securing loans, higher insurance rates, and the perception that predominantly African-American neighborhoods pose a higher risk for business loans.
What was Walmart's initiative in response to the 'Let's Move' campaign?
-In 2011, Walmart announced it would open between 275 and 300 new stores in urban and rural food deserts, serving 800,000 people by the end of 2016. They actually exceeded this goal by opening 442 stores in a five-year period.
How did the closure of Walmart stores in 2016 affect low-income neighborhoods?
-In 2016, Walmart's plan to close 154 U.S. locations disproportionately affected lower-income areas, with 121 of the stores being in neighborhoods where the median household income was below the national average.
What is the role of dollar stores in communities with limited access to full-service grocery stores?
-Dollar stores, such as Dollar Tree and Dollar General, have expanded in underserved urban communities that lack full-service grocery stores. However, they often do not offer fresh produce and instead stock processed goods with long shelf lives.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the issue of food deserts?
-The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated food desert issues by making access to transportation more difficult due to social distancing requirements and causing supply chain disruptions that led to empty store shelves.
What is the argument against using the term 'food deserts' by some activists?
-Some activists argue that the term 'food deserts' oversimplifies the complex system of racial and economic inequality and systemic oppression that contributes to poor food environments.
What are some of the factors that influence the eating habits of residents in food deserts, according to the USDA report?
-The USDA report suggests that factors such as household and neighborhood resources, education, and taste preferences play a significant role in the eating habits of residents in food deserts, even when given the opportunity to shop at a full-service grocery store.

Outlines

00:00

🌪️ The Silent Crisis of Food Deserts

This paragraph discusses the silent crisis of food deserts in America, which are areas where residents have limited access to healthy and affordable food, particularly impacting vulnerable communities. The USDA defines food deserts and highlights the racial and health equity issues associated with them. The paragraph also touches on the history of food deserts, dating back to the 1960s, and the challenges faced by businesses in establishing in these areas due to economic and demographic shifts.

05:00

🛒 Grocery Giants and the Struggle with Food Deserts

The second paragraph examines the role of major grocery chains in addressing food deserts. It mentions Walmart's initiative to open new stores in food deserts and the subsequent closures of some locations, which affected lower-income areas. The paragraph also addresses criticisms of Kroger for not serving communities in need and the challenges of opening grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods, including higher costs and difficulties in securing loans and insurance.

10:01

🏪 The Proliferation of Dollar Stores in Food Deserts

This paragraph focuses on the rise of dollar stores in underserved urban communities, which often lack full-service grocery stores. While these stores are more accessible, they typically do not offer fresh produce and instead stock processed goods with long shelf lives. The paragraph also discusses the health implications of a poor diet linked to food deserts, particularly for African Americans, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on exacerbating these health disparities.

15:01

🌱 Efforts to Combat Food Deserts and Their Limitations

The fourth paragraph outlines various efforts to combat food deserts, including the Let's Move campaign initiated by Michelle Obama and the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. It discusses the progress and shortfalls of these initiatives, with a focus on the challenges of securing commitments from major food retailers and the impact of public policy changes on food access. The paragraph also highlights the role of state-level initiatives and the need for more resources to address the scale of the problem.

20:01

🛍️ The Complex Issue of Demand and Gentrification in Food Deserts

The final paragraph delves into the complex factors influencing the persistence of food deserts, including demand-side issues and concerns about gentrification. It discusses the debate over the term 'food deserts' and the need to consider systemic oppression and education in addressing food insecurity. The paragraph also touches on the potential displacement of low-income residents due to the introduction of supermarkets in their neighborhoods and the ongoing public policy discussions around food access and health equity.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Food Deserts

Food deserts refer to areas where access to affordable and nutritious food is limited, typically due to the absence of grocery stores. In the video's context, food deserts are a significant issue in vulnerable communities, contributing to health disparities and affecting the quality of diets. The USDA's definition of food deserts is used to illustrate the problem's scope, with the video highlighting the racial and economic disparities in access to healthy food.

💡Racial and Health Equity

Racial and health equity are concepts that address the fair distribution of health resources and opportunities across different racial and ethnic groups. The video emphasizes that food deserts disproportionately affect people of color, indicating a racial disparity in access to healthy food options. The script discusses how market access to healthy food is a racial and health equity issue, reflecting the systemic inequalities in food availability.

💡USDA

The USDA, or United States Department of Agriculture, is a governmental agency responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. In the video, the USDA's definition of food deserts is cited to provide a clear standard for identifying areas with limited access to supermarkets, underscoring the federal government's role in addressing food access issues.

💡Chronic Illnesses

Chronic illnesses are health conditions that persist over a long period, often manageable but not curable. The video script mentions that poor diet, linked to living in a food desert, can lead to chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. The personal narrative of the speaker illustrates this by sharing the impact of food deserts on their household's health, including premature death due to poor diet.

💡Let's Move Campaign

The Let's Move campaign was an initiative introduced by Michelle Obama in 2010, aimed at promoting healthier food options and physical activity to combat childhood obesity. The video discusses this campaign's goal of eliminating food deserts within seven years, highlighting the national effort to address the issue of limited access to nutritious food in certain communities.

💡White Flight

White flight refers to the historical phenomenon where white families moved from urban to suburban areas, leading to demographic shifts and the decline of urban centers. The script mentions how discriminatory housing practices contributed to white flight, which in turn affected the distribution of businesses, including grocery stores, leaving certain communities underserved and creating food deserts.

💡Economic and Residential Segregation

Economic and residential segregation refer to the separation of people by income levels and where they live, often leading to disparities in resources and opportunities. The video discusses how these forms of segregation have contributed to the persistence of food deserts, as economic development policies tend to overlook areas of greatest need in favor of areas with higher growth potential.

💡Grocery Industry Resistance

Grocery industry resistance denotes the reluctance of grocery stores to invest in underserved communities. The video script explores the challenges of opening businesses in food deserts, such as increased costs, difficulty securing loans, and higher insurance rates. It also touches on the barriers faced by small businesses, particularly in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.

💡Public-Private Financing

Public-private financing involves collaboration between government and private sectors to fund projects or initiatives. In the context of the video, it is mentioned as a method to mitigate the financial gap faced by grocery stores in food deserts. This approach is part of the effort to make grocery stores economically viable in areas that are traditionally underserved.

💡Dollar Stores

Dollar stores are retail stores that sell items at low prices, often $1 or less. The video script points out the proliferation of dollar stores in underserved urban communities, which typically lack full-service grocery stores. However, these stores often do not offer fresh produce and instead stock processed goods, which contributes to the poor dietary choices available to residents of food deserts.

💡Food Insecurity

Food insecurity refers to the lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. The video discusses food insecurity as a significant public health issue, affecting a quarter of Americans and highlighting the higher rates among black, Hispanic, and low-income populations. The script also connects food insecurity to higher mortality rates and the exacerbation of health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

A silent crisis of food deserts is impacting vulnerable communities in America during the pandemic and protests against police brutality.

Food deserts are areas with limited access to healthy and affordable food, affecting about 19 million people in the U.S., particularly people of color.

The USDA defines food deserts and their prevalence in urban and rural areas, highlighting the racial and health equity issue.

Food deserts are linked to chronic illnesses and premature death due to poor diet, as experienced by the narrator in Baltimore.

The term 'food deserts' gained popularity in 2010 with Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' campaign, aiming to eliminate food deserts within seven years.

Origins of food deserts can be traced back to the 1960s, with suburban development and discriminatory housing practices leading to 'white flight'.

Grocery stores face increased costs and challenges in securing loans for opening in underserved communities.

Economic development policies often overlook areas of highest need, focusing instead on areas with the highest growth potential.

Despite efforts like Walmart's commitment to open new stores in food deserts, closures in low-income neighborhoods still occur.

Kroger, America's largest supermarket chain, faced criticism for store closures that disproportionately affected minority neighborhoods.

Dollar stores, while proliferating in food deserts, often lack fresh produce and contribute to unhealthy eating habits.

Fast food and corner stores are often the only food access options in areas with scarce grocery stores, leading to health issues.

The 'Let's Move' campaign and the Healthy Food Financing Initiative aimed to improve food access but fell short of goals.

Some states have made progress with their own initiatives to combat limited store access in underserved communities.

Individual efforts, like building a food hall in DC, demonstrate community-led solutions to food deserts.

Food insecurity is a complex issue involving supply and demand factors, education, and individual preferences.

Concerns about gentrification and displacement arise with the introduction of supermarkets like Trader Joe's in low-income neighborhoods.

Activists are pushing to change the narrative around food deserts, focusing on racial and economic inequality and systemic oppression.

Transcripts

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Related Tags

Food Deserts Health Equity Nutrition Access Racial Disparities Urban Poverty Rural Challenges Grocery Shortage Public Health Policy Initiatives Community Impact Economic Barriers