Food deserts are a concept that has existed since the last century and has been gaining more strength with the advancement of studies on food security.
The crucial point is that it is not enough for the population to satisfy their taste buds or try to re-educate their diet. Eliminating hunger is the first step, of course. But poorer regions of large and small cities are still placed on the margins of access to nutritional completeness, living in food deserts.
In this context, social inequality would be the heavy sand that prevents the lower classes from having access to the long-awaited oasis, which is fresh, natural food rich in nutrients, necessary for the health of citizens.
What are food deserts?
Food deserts are places where access to fresh or minimally processed foods is scarce. According to this definition of Iconsumer protection institute (Idec), people who live in these places need to travel to distant regions in order to obtain foods that are important for nutritional health.
In a line of studies depending on the food insecurity, deserts reflect issues of public health and social inequality. Geographic distance is just one factor that can create a food desert, but it is mainly the lack of policies for universal access to fresh food that causes this problem.
The first time this term was coined was in 1995, in a document from a working group of the Scottish government's Nutrition Task Force.
In studies organized by United States Department of Agriculture, the term food desert defines a “region in which at least 500 people, or 33% from a given census sector, live more than 1.6km from a supermarket”.
If you're hiking in the desert and a cold soda appears, you're going to drink it, no matter how much you want water. The logic is similar in terms of food deserts.
A doctoral thesis by Ana Clara Duran, PhD in Sciences and researcher at the Faculty of Public Health at USP, revealed that residents close to points with varieties of fruit consume them more. On the other hand, places with more fast foods are associated with greater consumption of soda and sugar.
MMany families live in a reality where it is easier to buy a snack or a package of stuffed biscuits than a bunch of bananas or half a dozen apples.
Thus, it is easier, more practical, among other factors. Therefore, talking only about nutritional re-education would be turning a blind eye to this inequality.
Where are the food deserts?
Firstly, food deserts, in general, are concentrated in peripheral neighborhoods or with lower social indicators. Residents of these regions need to travel to large centers with greater purchasing power, where supermarkets, markets and fruit and vegetable stores where fresh or minimally processed foods are found are concentrated.
One CAISAN mapping (Interministerial Chamber of Food and Nutrition Security) pointed out that, in 12 of the 21 Brazilian capitals, the group of subdistricts in which there is a smaller number of establishments offering healthy food is also the group with the lowest income.
In peripheral regions, there is a greater concentration of establishments that sell ultra-processed foods and rarely fresh foods.
Recently, the G1 report showed that food deserts condemn up to 47.4% of the population of the largest economy in the world, the United States. Overtown is one of thousands of “food deserts” across the country.
Even though we are talking about one of the richest countries in the world, most of these people have difficulty accessing healthy foods.
What causes food deserts?
One of the main causes of food deserts is the lack of infrastructure in low-income communities. These areas often do not have supermarkets nearby, making access to fresh, healthy food difficult.
This leads people to depend on processed foods, that is, less nutritious foods that pose serious risks to the health of those who consume them.
Another cause is the lack of adequate public transport in these regions, which makes access to food even more difficult.
Therefore, without convenient transportation, residents of food deserts have difficulty getting to the nearest supermarkets or grocery stores, limiting their food options.
What are the impacts of food deserts on the lives of the population?
Food deserts are obstacles for a considerable portion of the population to lead a healthy life. Many studies relate nutritional deficiency and its consequences on human health to the economic conditions of the population.
Countries can take a heavy toll on mortality, health and population well-being data. At least that's what it shows the report of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition pointing out that action is needed from those responsible to control overweight and combat of diet-related diseases.
Nutritional deficiencies affect people's performance and daily lives much more than one might imagine. Therefore, it is essential that efforts are made to create open-air markets, urban gardens and all types of ways to bring more healthy food to citizens.
What are the consequences of food deserts?
The main consequence of the food desert is the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease for these people, with less access to a balanced diet.
Furthermore, food deserts can also negatively affect cognitive development and academic performance, especially in children and adolescents.
This happens because a lack of essential nutrients in their diets can impair brain function and learning ability. Thus resulting in educational difficulties and limited opportunities in the future.
Finally, another consequence is the economic impact, as the lack of access to good food increases the costs of healthcare and medical treatments.
Additionally, a lack of fresh food options can lead to lower productivity at work, as inadequate nutrition can affect people's energy and concentration.
How to recognize a food desert?
Recognizing this problem is the first step to solving it. They can be identified by the scarcity of supermarkets, grocery stores and fresh food markets in a given region.
Furthermore, the lack of fresh and nutritious food is also a strong indicator, especially when residents are dependent on convenience stores and fast food, for example.
Another sign of a food desert is the distance residents have to travel to find healthy food. If the only option is miles away, we can say that that neighborhood lives in a food desert.
Food deserts and swamps: are they the same thing?
They are different concepts, but both represent a public health problem. In a food desert, there is a shortage of affordable, nutritious food in urban areas.
Meanwhile, food swamp is the abundance of processed and unhealthy foods available.
A food desert is characterized by a lack of supermarkets, grocery stores, and other sources of fresh food in specific areas.
The food swamp is the profusion of highly processed foods, rich in sugars, saturated fats and sodium. These foods are often promoted through aggressive marketing, making them widely available and attractive to consumers.
How to prevent food deserts?
There are a series of actions that can prevent food deserts. Policies to reduce inequalities, especially with increased purchasing conditions and movements by private sectors to bring food to the population in need. O Everyone at the Table is an iFood initiative that creates a donation ecosystem.
Apart from the actions above, what can help prevent food deserts is to encourage small establishments to sell more fresh products.
Furthermore, as mentioned, the creation of community gardens in public spaces it is a good option.
Furthermore, it is essential to create a sense among the population that healthy eating is a right and a necessity. On a daily basis, this would result in more nutritionally rich meals in schools, popular restaurants and company cafeterias.
How to end food deserts?
It is not very different from the ways to prevent, combat or end existing food deserts.
It is necessary to focus on initiatives that intervene in the food system, ranging from promoting the production of agroecological and organic foods to the possibility of using tax measures. This sets a precedent for the powers to discuss the taxation of industrialized products with a high content of saturated fats.
There is a mismatch in the affordability of industrialized products in relation to fresh foods, and the difference in terms of health between the second and the first is incomparable.
Food deserts in Brazil: what is the current situation?
In Brazil, the reality in which food deserts are perceived in peripheral areas, suburbs and small cities is not very different from other countries.
The latter are still a challenge in terms of measurement, since bodies such as CAISAN that are in the process of carrying out these research have an easier time mapping the indices in more central and metropolitan regions.
Furthermore, the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population (Ministry of Health) defines the ideal of consuming a greater quantity of fresh foods, reducing processed products and avoiding ultra-processed foods.
The recommended minimum daily consumption is 400g of fruits and vegetables, according to the WHO. And the numbers are astonishing: only 24% of Brazilians managed to reach this daily target, according to Brazilian Nutrition Association (ASBRAN).
For many families, fruits and vegetables are “extra” foods. They are only on the table or in the pantry when there is money left over and, even so, people end up not looking for food due to lack of habit and because it spoils faster.
How is the Brazilian population eating?
In Brazil, the trend in food consumption depends on the supply that the population finds close to their homes. Whether fruits and vegetables, whether fast food or snacks, the “nonsense” as many call it, but which of them are most easily found in kiosks and grocery stores in suburban regions?
However, when opting for greater consumption of this type of food, in the country between 2007 and 2017, cases of hypertension increased by 14.2% and diabetes cases increased by 61.8%. In 2021, more than a fifth of the adult population is obese, according to data from the “2021 World Health Statistics” report, released by the WHO.
It is necessary to think about the entire food chain in Brazil. A more urgent and specific look at hunger is needed. Good quality food for future generations depends on medium and long-term efforts to combat food insecurity and deserts.
