America’s Worst 9 Urban Food Deserts

Visitiacion Valley & Bayview Food Deserts

As I posted last month, parts of the Bayview and Visitacion Valley are in a Federally recognized food desert, where it's easier to get a McDonald's hamburger and a bottle of Colt45 than it is an apple or salad ingredients.

Thankfully, with the addition of our new Fresh & Easy store at 5800 Third St., that is changing.

From News One,

“Food desert” is a term commonly used to describe communities with little or no access to healthy food, including fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and diary products. Millions of Americans — mostly poor, many African-Americans — live in these areas. In fact, the United States Department of Agriculture reports that about 23.5 million Americans currently live in food deserts, including 6.5 million children. Typically, food deserts are defined by: 1) the lack or absence of large grocery stores and supermarkets that sell fresh produce and healthy food options; and 2) low-income populations living on tight budgets. These food deserts are also signified by high levels of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the community, which result from residents buying their food from corner stores that sell processed foods, and plentiful fast food options.

San Francisco has a fairly large food desert located in the Bayview, Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods – some of the poorest in San Francisco. In San Francisco, a staggering 150,000 people, 20% of the city’s population forsakes buying food in order to pay their bills. In Hunters Point, some 40,000 residents travel miles to the nearest grocery store. Most turn to nearby high-fat, high-sodium fast food. “The dollars spent by the fast-food industry far outnumber any resources that we as a city could spend on outreach and education.” San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar told CNN. “No amount of physical activity can undo the harms of unhealthy eating.” Other Bay Area food deserts include neighborhoods in Oakland and Richmond. And each is not unlike many cities in California. Eighty-five percent of the state's food deserts are found in urban areas.