Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood

With the horror of films like “Fast Food Nation” and “Super Size Me,” in recent years more attention has gone into encouraging Americans to eat healthier. The rise of books like Michael Allen's In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and the increase of farmers markets and stores like Whole Foods has brought a lot of awareness to what we eat--but even in the national push to be healthier many communities have been ignored. Low income and minority neighborhoods nation wide suffer higher obesity rates and more deaths from diabetes and heart disease than their wealthier and often whiter counter parts.

A 2006 study done by the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene focusing on Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant (two low-income, high minority populations) found that 8 out of 10 stores in both areas are bodegas. The problem with that is though bodegas have convenient locations and hours, they lack the majority of them lack the fresh food options that super-markets do and they often sell fresh food (if they have it) at higher prices. Milk at bodegas in Bed-stuy will cost you 79 cents more than milk at a supermarket ,in Bushwick it will cost you 19 cents more. Only 6% of bodegas in both neighborhoods carry leafy greens and 28% carry apples, oranges and bananas. Additionally,13% of the areas 168 restaurants are national fast-food chains. (Click here for the full release on the 2006 study).

Cities are starting to take notice of the great divide between privileged and under-privileged populations in the availability of healthy foods. As a result new initiatives are being added to the budget to allow for fresh produce in neighborhoods that might not had the option before. In Baltimore a program in which customers order their food online, pay with cash, a card or food stamps and pick their purchases up at the public library has been added by the city. The Virtual Supermarket was launched last month by Baltimore's health department. Currently the program is offered at two library branches on opposite ends of the city, one is in a working class, predominantly African American community and the other is in a racially diversified and economically mixed community.

"These areas lack large, competitively priced supermarkets within walking distance -- sometimes called 'food deserts,'" NPR journalist Donna Marie Owens said in her article Check It Out: Get Your Groceries At The Library about the initiative. "Both communities have plenty of fast-food and corner stores, but many tend to offer less healthy fare," Owens explained.

After only a month, it is still too soon to tell rather The Virtual Supermarket is a success or not. Baltimore's mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake feels the new program is an innovative solution that will provide better food options for the community until more supermarkets develop in the area. "I'm so proud that we have the use of technology to fill in that gap till development catches up," mayor Stephanie told Donna Marie Owens for the NPR story.

New York is dealing with this issue as well. In 2008 the city approved 1,000 Green Carts (fruit and vegetable stands, click here for more) the stands will be placed in areas around New York that have minimal fresh produce options. According to the New York Times article Customer's Prove There's A Market for Fresh Produce,written by Glenn Collins, June 10, 2009, as of June 2009, 200 of the 1,000 approved Green Carts had made it to street destinations. Under the 2008 initiative the 1000 approve Green Carts will break down like this: 50 permits for Brooklyn, 350 for the Bronx, 150 for Manhattan, 100 for Queens, and 50 for Staten Island.

When it comes to food, in a country like the United States, access shouldn't be an issue. It's good to see more initiative in providing healthy food options to communities who need and deserve them.