Rough Draft
Meeting the Expectations: the Feasibility of the Solutions to Food Deserts
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 23.5 million people live in food deserts and more than half of them are low-income and live more than 10 miles from an ordinary supermarket. A food desert is a geographic region, mostly in impoverished areas, where affordable and healthy groceries such as fruits and vegetables are highly limited or even nonexistent (USDA). In these food deserts, as previously stated from USDA, more than half of the people living in these food deserts are low-come, and as a result, they cannot move out of these unlivable circumstances but are forced to live and raise a family through it. According to USDA, African American and Hispanic communities have half the amount of grocery stores as white communities do and this racial segregation amongst cities causes the development of food deserts. Consequently, it affects these low-income Americans personally, economically and medically; and Chicago is a prime example of the devastating effects of food deserts. In Chicago, the majority of these suffering citizens are in low-income families and they lack fresh produce to allow their children to maximize their potentials academically and personally. Also, because they are low-income families, when the body breaks down – which is inevitable with only junk and highly processed food available – they are not able to pay for the medical bills, which results in the taxpayers of that state to pay for it. According to Monifa Thomas, a staff reporter for Chicago Sun Times, more than 88,000 Illinois residents received health insurance in 2013 from the Affordable Care Act. Evidently, the Chicago residents do not have the luxury of health insurance and without the help of the government, suffering is inevitable especially with the conditions of food deserts. Not only that but food deserts are also directly linked to health problems such as obesity, diabetes and other chronic illnesses because about 1 million Chicago residents lack fresh produce but are highly exposed to fast food (Food Empowerment Project). The problem of the prevalence of food deserts in Chicago is caused by the failures of not only the state but also the national government to stop the resegregation caused by the white flight and attention to increase the amount of fresh produce. As a result, the suffering food desert citizens as well as the surrounding cities’ citizens fall short of their potentials and are left to deal with the increase in healthcare costs from various diseases rooted from food deserts, which ends up becoming an economical burden on Illinois citizens. Ultimately, food deserts worsen the city’s already critical conditions of high crime and unemployment rate, and the plethora of problems that follow it. Over the years, starting in 2004, the US and its citizens began taking action against this epidemic. For example, according to The Reinvestment Fund, the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PFFFI) of 2004 provided the state with investments, reduction of chronic illnesses, living wage jobs and preparation of qualified workers. PFFFI was implemented for six years after deploying all of its funds and the results proved it to be effective. The support it gained from the citizens proves that with the right solution, food desert can be contained and hopefully eliminated. This successful act against food deserts planted a seed of hope for the citizens in Chicago today.
The beginning of the food desert epidemic can be dated back to the mid-20th century. The food deserts began growing due to a national phenomenon called the White Flight, which eventually led to racial resegregation. The White Flight is a term coined in the 1960s in the US for the sudden dispersion of white population into the suburbs. As a result, racially desegregated Chicago neighborhoods became nearly 100% black neighborhoods (McClelland). For example, according to Edward McClelland in NBC Chicago, Englewood is 98.5% black and 0.6% white. More specifically, the white population “plummeted from 51,583 to 818” (The Chicago Reporter qtd. in McClelland). These detrimental numbers verify the existence of White Flight and the resegregation that resulted from it. As the consumers left for the suburbs, the industries followed. Without these industries, thousands of jobs were instantly lost. This left the previously shown predominantly black population to face the consequences of skyrocketed unemployment rate and the beginning of food desert epidemic. Also, as industrialization began, mechanization replaced physical labor of farming, and as a result, the 20 million Victory Gardens from World War II were quickly overtaken by factories, which ultimately destroyed these citizens’ means of provision. This historical cause was catalyzed and worsened by the White Flight which left the majority of Chicago predominantly black and low-income. Since these citizens lacked the money, they could not spend money on healthy but expensive food choices and consequently, local food stores went out of business, which explains the patches of food deserts especially in low-income neighborhoods (whyhunger.org). Evident from the historical background of how the food desert epidemic started, food deserts is now a national crisis that must be dealt with.
Regarding Chicago specifically, their food desert crisis has slightly alleviated but not nearly as much as Pennsylvania mainly because of the lack of bold action against it. According to studies and research done by the Mari Gallagher Research Group, the majority of Chicago has very low Food Balance Scores and inevitably high Body Mass Index. The problems of food deserts include high rates of chronic illnesses and the excessively far and extremely rare grocery stores or retailers that possess healthy fresh foods. However, H.R. 2343: The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), proposed by Democratic Pennsylvanian Representative Allyson Schwartz on June 12th, 2013 (H.R. 2343). This bill seeks to “amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish initiative to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, create and preserve quality jobs, and revitalize low-income communities by providing loans and grants to eligible fresh food retailers” to overcome the financial barriers in starting a business in these neighborhoods such as Chicago (H.R. 2343). It is partnered with multiple foundations and organizations such as The Food Trust which is a nonprofit organization established in 1992 that provides nutritional education classes for the public. However, roadblocks exist in the way of this solution; the oppositions say that this solution is too costly, does not guarantee any results and it doesn’t have a specific time frame. In contrast, as shown in PFFFI, it may seem costly but it definitely provided results that greatly increased the health of Pennsylvania. If it can help an entire state, it can most definitely help a suffering city. This may be the best possible solution to fight against the food desert epidemic because of its wide coverage, clear cost-effectiveness, and successful results.
HFFI has the scope to cover the entire state of Illinois, however, understanding that the task of fighting food deserts is more daunting than it seems, HFFI must focus on a particular city, in this case, Chicago. Just in Chicago, there are 2.72 million citizens so the challenge is not reduced by any means but it is more focused on the people that are suffering the most in Illinois since Chicago is predominantly covered with food desert regions. HFFI will reduce the severity of the food desert epidemic by improving access to fresh foods, creating jobs and incentivizing retailers to start their fresh food businesses in Chicago. This, however, does not tackle the entire problem as previously stated, but it tackles the most prominent cause of food deserts which is the lack of fresh foods. This solution is almost guaranteed to give successful results because of the success of PFFFI in 2004 in Pennsylvania. HFFI was proposed based on the results of PFFFI which aimed to help the entire city. However, if HFFI is focused on a much narrower population, its results is basically guaranteed and should be exponentially better because instead of serving 12.88 million citizens of Illionis, it will focus its attention on 2.72 million Chicago citizens. The process of implementation begins with passing this bill in Congress. Even though it only has about 5% chance of being passed in the House of Representatives, it has been progressing each year with increasing support from other Representatives who believe in the results of HFFI (GovTrack.us). And with the increasing education of food deserts and its effects, the support will increase exponentially in due time since the food desert epidemic is still an obscure idea to most American citizens. The second step of implementation would be to start improving access to fresh foods by incentivizing fresh food retailers to start their businesses in Chicago by providing loans and grants to overcome the financial barriers of starting up a new business in an urban city.
Instead of spreading the loans and grants to an entire state, this solution can focus on just Chicago which allows its citizens and local retailers to benefit fully from the bill. An ancestor bill, PFFFI, spent about $85 million to fund the new projects and local retailers. Therefore, this bill is projected to spend about $50 million to fund these retailers but the obesity epidemic costs alone was $147 million in 2013. Including other healthcare costs, its cost will be unimaginable. With that in mind, funding $50 million to prevent further increase in healthcare costs and eventually decrease it is much more effective than taking no action against food deserts and allowing it to grow as it has been for the past 54 years (H.R. 2343). Although Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) haven’t done a cost analysis for this bill yet, it can be clearly observed that the benefits of implementing this solution greatly outweigh the cost of this bill. Its short-term benefit is that it will immediately start providing loans and grants to local retailers which will catalyze the improvement in accessibility of fresh foods. Not only that but in the long term, it will also decrease chronic illness rates and overall healthcare costs. According to Xerox, the cost of healthcare will continue to increase but enhanced funding will decrease as time goes by and it calls for help and the primary reducer would be the citizens themselves since they can now make a conscious effort to keep their bodies healthier through this solution. This solution does not call for any extra taxes but rather reallocates the state’s and city’s budgets so that its cost will not be excessive and unreasonable. HFFI states in its bill that it will reallocate some of its budget to funding this bill in loans and grants.
There is an alternative solution to HFFI and that is H.R. 1933: Let’s Grow Act of 2013, proposed by Marcia Fudge, a Democratic Representative from Ohio, on May 9th, 2013. This bill seeks to direct the USDA secretary to carry out the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, which is a community campaign that seeks to add healthier snacks for kids in corner stores (H.R. 1933). However, this has grown to adding more grocery stores and healthier foods in these stores. It also seeks to give grants to provide farmers' markets and invest in local bus systems to increase accessibility to food. It is also giving incentive grants to those who spend money at these fresh food retailers and farmers' markets. Also, to entice the farmers' markets to install the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s Electronic Benefit System (EBT), which is a system for low-income families to access food, this act seeks to give the market grants. EBT is also used in H.R. 2343 which proves to show that EBT is feasible. Two separate bills proposed similar ideas of EBT which seeks to incentivize consumers to spend money on healthy food options instead of liquor or highly processed foods (SNAP). This alternative solution rooted from a local campaign in Philadelphia called the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) which was founded to be a viable solution to change the food landscape of Philadelphia (Karpyn). The coverage of this solution is indeed effective since it will benefit all the population in the area but the feasibility is very low. Although it has been gaining support and improving cities across the nation, it is not nearly as effective as HFFI because of its one and only focus of improving grocery stores. This solution seems like it could help the food desert crisis but it will not pass the rigorous oppositions due to its lack of definite results and detail. This bill lacks the foundation of how this bill came to be. Unlike, H.R. 1933, HFFI has a foundation of the PFFFI which succeeded tremendously. In the end, H.R. 2343’s HFFI resolves to be the best possible solution to fight against food deserts.
Food deserts are becoming a wider-known epidemic each and every day because its causes and effects are shared to the public. With that in mind, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, also known as H.R. 2343, is the more feasible solution to fight against this epidemic because of its wide coverage that can magnify its effects when focused down into one city, the clearly cost-beneficial and cost-effectiveness. The solution is feasible but it is also the citizens’ responsibility to implement into their lives. Even though there have been efforts to decrease obesity in the US by eating healthier, it has not made a dent in the obesity rates. The problem of obesity isn’t just in their diets but in the region they live in: food deserts. With citizens being more educated on this topic, HFFI’s public support will continue to rise but in order to gain more support in Congress, citizens must contact them through email, letters, phone calls and even face-to-face appointments. Every action counts.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 23.5 million people live in food deserts and more than half of them are low-income and live more than 10 miles from an ordinary supermarket. A food desert is a geographic region, mostly in impoverished areas, where affordable and healthy groceries such as fruits and vegetables are highly limited or even nonexistent (USDA). In these food deserts, as previously stated from USDA, more than half of the people living in these food deserts are low-come, and as a result, they cannot move out of these unlivable circumstances but are forced to live and raise a family through it. According to USDA, African American and Hispanic communities have half the amount of grocery stores as white communities do and this racial segregation amongst cities causes the development of food deserts. Consequently, it affects these low-income Americans personally, economically and medically; and Chicago is a prime example of the devastating effects of food deserts. In Chicago, the majority of these suffering citizens are in low-income families and they lack fresh produce to allow their children to maximize their potentials academically and personally. Also, because they are low-income families, when the body breaks down – which is inevitable with only junk and highly processed food available – they are not able to pay for the medical bills, which results in the taxpayers of that state to pay for it. According to Monifa Thomas, a staff reporter for Chicago Sun Times, more than 88,000 Illinois residents received health insurance in 2013 from the Affordable Care Act. Evidently, the Chicago residents do not have the luxury of health insurance and without the help of the government, suffering is inevitable especially with the conditions of food deserts. Not only that but food deserts are also directly linked to health problems such as obesity, diabetes and other chronic illnesses because about 1 million Chicago residents lack fresh produce but are highly exposed to fast food (Food Empowerment Project). The problem of the prevalence of food deserts in Chicago is caused by the failures of not only the state but also the national government to stop the resegregation caused by the white flight and attention to increase the amount of fresh produce. As a result, the suffering food desert citizens as well as the surrounding cities’ citizens fall short of their potentials and are left to deal with the increase in healthcare costs from various diseases rooted from food deserts, which ends up becoming an economical burden on Illinois citizens. Ultimately, food deserts worsen the city’s already critical conditions of high crime and unemployment rate, and the plethora of problems that follow it. Over the years, starting in 2004, the US and its citizens began taking action against this epidemic. For example, according to The Reinvestment Fund, the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PFFFI) of 2004 provided the state with investments, reduction of chronic illnesses, living wage jobs and preparation of qualified workers. PFFFI was implemented for six years after deploying all of its funds and the results proved it to be effective. The support it gained from the citizens proves that with the right solution, food desert can be contained and hopefully eliminated. This successful act against food deserts planted a seed of hope for the citizens in Chicago today.
The beginning of the food desert epidemic can be dated back to the mid-20th century. The food deserts began growing due to a national phenomenon called the White Flight, which eventually led to racial resegregation. The White Flight is a term coined in the 1960s in the US for the sudden dispersion of white population into the suburbs. As a result, racially desegregated Chicago neighborhoods became nearly 100% black neighborhoods (McClelland). For example, according to Edward McClelland in NBC Chicago, Englewood is 98.5% black and 0.6% white. More specifically, the white population “plummeted from 51,583 to 818” (The Chicago Reporter qtd. in McClelland). These detrimental numbers verify the existence of White Flight and the resegregation that resulted from it. As the consumers left for the suburbs, the industries followed. Without these industries, thousands of jobs were instantly lost. This left the previously shown predominantly black population to face the consequences of skyrocketed unemployment rate and the beginning of food desert epidemic. Also, as industrialization began, mechanization replaced physical labor of farming, and as a result, the 20 million Victory Gardens from World War II were quickly overtaken by factories, which ultimately destroyed these citizens’ means of provision. This historical cause was catalyzed and worsened by the White Flight which left the majority of Chicago predominantly black and low-income. Since these citizens lacked the money, they could not spend money on healthy but expensive food choices and consequently, local food stores went out of business, which explains the patches of food deserts especially in low-income neighborhoods (whyhunger.org). Evident from the historical background of how the food desert epidemic started, food deserts is now a national crisis that must be dealt with.
Regarding Chicago specifically, their food desert crisis has slightly alleviated but not nearly as much as Pennsylvania mainly because of the lack of bold action against it. According to studies and research done by the Mari Gallagher Research Group, the majority of Chicago has very low Food Balance Scores and inevitably high Body Mass Index. The problems of food deserts include high rates of chronic illnesses and the excessively far and extremely rare grocery stores or retailers that possess healthy fresh foods. However, H.R. 2343: The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), proposed by Democratic Pennsylvanian Representative Allyson Schwartz on June 12th, 2013 (H.R. 2343). This bill seeks to “amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish initiative to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, create and preserve quality jobs, and revitalize low-income communities by providing loans and grants to eligible fresh food retailers” to overcome the financial barriers in starting a business in these neighborhoods such as Chicago (H.R. 2343). It is partnered with multiple foundations and organizations such as The Food Trust which is a nonprofit organization established in 1992 that provides nutritional education classes for the public. However, roadblocks exist in the way of this solution; the oppositions say that this solution is too costly, does not guarantee any results and it doesn’t have a specific time frame. In contrast, as shown in PFFFI, it may seem costly but it definitely provided results that greatly increased the health of Pennsylvania. If it can help an entire state, it can most definitely help a suffering city. This may be the best possible solution to fight against the food desert epidemic because of its wide coverage, clear cost-effectiveness, and successful results.
HFFI has the scope to cover the entire state of Illinois, however, understanding that the task of fighting food deserts is more daunting than it seems, HFFI must focus on a particular city, in this case, Chicago. Just in Chicago, there are 2.72 million citizens so the challenge is not reduced by any means but it is more focused on the people that are suffering the most in Illinois since Chicago is predominantly covered with food desert regions. HFFI will reduce the severity of the food desert epidemic by improving access to fresh foods, creating jobs and incentivizing retailers to start their fresh food businesses in Chicago. This, however, does not tackle the entire problem as previously stated, but it tackles the most prominent cause of food deserts which is the lack of fresh foods. This solution is almost guaranteed to give successful results because of the success of PFFFI in 2004 in Pennsylvania. HFFI was proposed based on the results of PFFFI which aimed to help the entire city. However, if HFFI is focused on a much narrower population, its results is basically guaranteed and should be exponentially better because instead of serving 12.88 million citizens of Illionis, it will focus its attention on 2.72 million Chicago citizens. The process of implementation begins with passing this bill in Congress. Even though it only has about 5% chance of being passed in the House of Representatives, it has been progressing each year with increasing support from other Representatives who believe in the results of HFFI (GovTrack.us). And with the increasing education of food deserts and its effects, the support will increase exponentially in due time since the food desert epidemic is still an obscure idea to most American citizens. The second step of implementation would be to start improving access to fresh foods by incentivizing fresh food retailers to start their businesses in Chicago by providing loans and grants to overcome the financial barriers of starting up a new business in an urban city.
Instead of spreading the loans and grants to an entire state, this solution can focus on just Chicago which allows its citizens and local retailers to benefit fully from the bill. An ancestor bill, PFFFI, spent about $85 million to fund the new projects and local retailers. Therefore, this bill is projected to spend about $50 million to fund these retailers but the obesity epidemic costs alone was $147 million in 2013. Including other healthcare costs, its cost will be unimaginable. With that in mind, funding $50 million to prevent further increase in healthcare costs and eventually decrease it is much more effective than taking no action against food deserts and allowing it to grow as it has been for the past 54 years (H.R. 2343). Although Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) haven’t done a cost analysis for this bill yet, it can be clearly observed that the benefits of implementing this solution greatly outweigh the cost of this bill. Its short-term benefit is that it will immediately start providing loans and grants to local retailers which will catalyze the improvement in accessibility of fresh foods. Not only that but in the long term, it will also decrease chronic illness rates and overall healthcare costs. According to Xerox, the cost of healthcare will continue to increase but enhanced funding will decrease as time goes by and it calls for help and the primary reducer would be the citizens themselves since they can now make a conscious effort to keep their bodies healthier through this solution. This solution does not call for any extra taxes but rather reallocates the state’s and city’s budgets so that its cost will not be excessive and unreasonable. HFFI states in its bill that it will reallocate some of its budget to funding this bill in loans and grants.
There is an alternative solution to HFFI and that is H.R. 1933: Let’s Grow Act of 2013, proposed by Marcia Fudge, a Democratic Representative from Ohio, on May 9th, 2013. This bill seeks to direct the USDA secretary to carry out the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, which is a community campaign that seeks to add healthier snacks for kids in corner stores (H.R. 1933). However, this has grown to adding more grocery stores and healthier foods in these stores. It also seeks to give grants to provide farmers' markets and invest in local bus systems to increase accessibility to food. It is also giving incentive grants to those who spend money at these fresh food retailers and farmers' markets. Also, to entice the farmers' markets to install the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s Electronic Benefit System (EBT), which is a system for low-income families to access food, this act seeks to give the market grants. EBT is also used in H.R. 2343 which proves to show that EBT is feasible. Two separate bills proposed similar ideas of EBT which seeks to incentivize consumers to spend money on healthy food options instead of liquor or highly processed foods (SNAP). This alternative solution rooted from a local campaign in Philadelphia called the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) which was founded to be a viable solution to change the food landscape of Philadelphia (Karpyn). The coverage of this solution is indeed effective since it will benefit all the population in the area but the feasibility is very low. Although it has been gaining support and improving cities across the nation, it is not nearly as effective as HFFI because of its one and only focus of improving grocery stores. This solution seems like it could help the food desert crisis but it will not pass the rigorous oppositions due to its lack of definite results and detail. This bill lacks the foundation of how this bill came to be. Unlike, H.R. 1933, HFFI has a foundation of the PFFFI which succeeded tremendously. In the end, H.R. 2343’s HFFI resolves to be the best possible solution to fight against food deserts.
Food deserts are becoming a wider-known epidemic each and every day because its causes and effects are shared to the public. With that in mind, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, also known as H.R. 2343, is the more feasible solution to fight against this epidemic because of its wide coverage that can magnify its effects when focused down into one city, the clearly cost-beneficial and cost-effectiveness. The solution is feasible but it is also the citizens’ responsibility to implement into their lives. Even though there have been efforts to decrease obesity in the US by eating healthier, it has not made a dent in the obesity rates. The problem of obesity isn’t just in their diets but in the region they live in: food deserts. With citizens being more educated on this topic, HFFI’s public support will continue to rise but in order to gain more support in Congress, citizens must contact them through email, letters, phone calls and even face-to-face appointments. Every action counts.
Works Cited
Badger, Emily. Net White Migration during the 1970s. Digital image. The Atlantic Cities. The
Atlantic Cities, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
"Food Deserts." Food Empowerment Project. Food Empowerment Project, n.d. Web. 22 Apr.
2014.
Gallagher, Mari. Chicago’s Food Deserts by Tract with Community Boundaries. Digital
Image. Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, 2006. Web.
20 Apr. 2014.
Gallagher, Mari. "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in
Chicago." Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, n.d.
Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
"Healthy Food Financing Initiative (H.R. 2343)." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Holzman, David C. "A Healthy Food Financing Initiative." Environmental Health
Perspectives 118.4 (2010): n. pag. The Food Trust. The Food Trust, 12 Mar. 2012. Web.
28 May 2014.
Karpyn, Allison. Green For All (n.d.): n. pag. Green For All. Green For All, 2009. Web.
Khazan, Olga. "Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Won't Stop Obesity." The Atlantic. Atlantic
Media Company, 02 June 2014. Web. 02 June 2014.
McClelland, Edward. "White Flight, By The Numbers." NBC Chicago. NBC Chicago, 6 May
2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative." The Reinvestment Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June
2014.
"Public Agrees on Obesity's Impact, Not Government's Role." Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press RSS. PewResearch, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 June 2014.
SNAP. "Your Benefits." SNAP Benefits and EBT. USDA, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Thomas, Monifa. “88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times.” 88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times. Chicago Sun Times, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Xerox. "Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare Costs." Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare
Costs (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 29 May 2014.
Badger, Emily. Net White Migration during the 1970s. Digital image. The Atlantic Cities. The
Atlantic Cities, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
"Food Deserts." Food Empowerment Project. Food Empowerment Project, n.d. Web. 22 Apr.
2014.
Gallagher, Mari. Chicago’s Food Deserts by Tract with Community Boundaries. Digital
Image. Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, 2006. Web.
20 Apr. 2014.
Gallagher, Mari. "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in
Chicago." Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, n.d.
Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
"Healthy Food Financing Initiative (H.R. 2343)." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Holzman, David C. "A Healthy Food Financing Initiative." Environmental Health
Perspectives 118.4 (2010): n. pag. The Food Trust. The Food Trust, 12 Mar. 2012. Web.
28 May 2014.
Karpyn, Allison. Green For All (n.d.): n. pag. Green For All. Green For All, 2009. Web.
Khazan, Olga. "Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Won't Stop Obesity." The Atlantic. Atlantic
Media Company, 02 June 2014. Web. 02 June 2014.
McClelland, Edward. "White Flight, By The Numbers." NBC Chicago. NBC Chicago, 6 May
2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative." The Reinvestment Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June
2014.
"Public Agrees on Obesity's Impact, Not Government's Role." Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press RSS. PewResearch, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 June 2014.
SNAP. "Your Benefits." SNAP Benefits and EBT. USDA, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Thomas, Monifa. “88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times.” 88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times. Chicago Sun Times, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Xerox. "Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare Costs." Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare
Costs (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 29 May 2014.
Final Draft
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/0/7/29074265/4081968.png?312)
Meeting the Expectations: the Feasibility of the Solutions to Food Deserts
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 23.5 million people live in food deserts and more than half of them are low-income and live more than 10 miles from an ordinary supermarket. A food desert is a geographic region, mostly in impoverished areas, where affordable and healthy groceries such as fruits and vegetables are highly limited or even nonexistent (USDA). In these food deserts, as previously stated from USDA, more than half of the people living in these food deserts are low-come, and as a result, they cannot move out of these unlivable circumstances but are forced to live and raise a family through it. According to USDA, African American and Hispanic communities have half the amount of grocery stores as white communities do and this racial segregation amongst cities causes the development of food deserts. Consequently, it affects these low-income Americans personally, economically and medically; and Chicago is a prime example of the devastating effects of food deserts. In Chicago, the majority of these suffering citizens are in low-income families and they lack fresh produce to allow their children to maximize their potentials academically and personally. Also, because they are low-income families, when the body breaks down – which is inevitable with only junk and highly processed food available – they are not able to pay for the medical bills, which results in the taxpayers of that state to pay for it. According to Monifa Thomas, a staff reporter for Chicago Sun Times, more than 88,000 Illinois residents received health insurance in 2013 from the Affordable Care Act. Evidently, the Chicago residents do not have the luxury of health insurance and without the help of the government, suffering is inevitable especially with the conditions of food deserts. Not only that but food deserts are also directly linked to health problems such as obesity, diabetes and other chronic illnesses because about 1 million Chicago residents lack fresh produce but are highly exposed to fast food (Food Empowerment Project). The problem of the prevalence of food deserts in Chicago is caused by the failures of not only the state but also the national government to stop the resegregation caused by the white flight and attention to increase the amount of fresh produce. As a result, the suffering food desert citizens as well as the surrounding cities’ citizens fall short of their potentials and are left to deal with the increase in healthcare costs from various diseases rooted from food deserts, which ends up becoming an economical burden on Illinois citizens. Ultimately, food deserts worsen the city’s already critical conditions of high crime and unemployment rate, and the plethora of problems that follow it. Over the years, starting in 2004, the US and its citizens began taking action against this epidemic. For example, according to The Reinvestment Fund, the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PFFFI) of 2004 provided the state with investments, reduction of chronic illnesses, living wage jobs and preparation of qualified workers. PFFFI was implemented for six years after deploying all of its funds and the results proved it to be effective. As shown in Figure 1, the problems caused by food deserts were devastating. PFFFI attracted 300 hopeful healthy food retailers, provided about $85 million in loans and grants and created over 5023 jobs (PFFFI). Also, Figure 2 reveals the tremendous progress made from one state’s effort to fight against food deserts. The support it gained from the citizens proves that with the right solution, food desert can be contained and hopefully eliminated. This successful act against food deserts planted a seed of hope for the citizens in Chicago today.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 23.5 million people live in food deserts and more than half of them are low-income and live more than 10 miles from an ordinary supermarket. A food desert is a geographic region, mostly in impoverished areas, where affordable and healthy groceries such as fruits and vegetables are highly limited or even nonexistent (USDA). In these food deserts, as previously stated from USDA, more than half of the people living in these food deserts are low-come, and as a result, they cannot move out of these unlivable circumstances but are forced to live and raise a family through it. According to USDA, African American and Hispanic communities have half the amount of grocery stores as white communities do and this racial segregation amongst cities causes the development of food deserts. Consequently, it affects these low-income Americans personally, economically and medically; and Chicago is a prime example of the devastating effects of food deserts. In Chicago, the majority of these suffering citizens are in low-income families and they lack fresh produce to allow their children to maximize their potentials academically and personally. Also, because they are low-income families, when the body breaks down – which is inevitable with only junk and highly processed food available – they are not able to pay for the medical bills, which results in the taxpayers of that state to pay for it. According to Monifa Thomas, a staff reporter for Chicago Sun Times, more than 88,000 Illinois residents received health insurance in 2013 from the Affordable Care Act. Evidently, the Chicago residents do not have the luxury of health insurance and without the help of the government, suffering is inevitable especially with the conditions of food deserts. Not only that but food deserts are also directly linked to health problems such as obesity, diabetes and other chronic illnesses because about 1 million Chicago residents lack fresh produce but are highly exposed to fast food (Food Empowerment Project). The problem of the prevalence of food deserts in Chicago is caused by the failures of not only the state but also the national government to stop the resegregation caused by the white flight and attention to increase the amount of fresh produce. As a result, the suffering food desert citizens as well as the surrounding cities’ citizens fall short of their potentials and are left to deal with the increase in healthcare costs from various diseases rooted from food deserts, which ends up becoming an economical burden on Illinois citizens. Ultimately, food deserts worsen the city’s already critical conditions of high crime and unemployment rate, and the plethora of problems that follow it. Over the years, starting in 2004, the US and its citizens began taking action against this epidemic. For example, according to The Reinvestment Fund, the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PFFFI) of 2004 provided the state with investments, reduction of chronic illnesses, living wage jobs and preparation of qualified workers. PFFFI was implemented for six years after deploying all of its funds and the results proved it to be effective. As shown in Figure 1, the problems caused by food deserts were devastating. PFFFI attracted 300 hopeful healthy food retailers, provided about $85 million in loans and grants and created over 5023 jobs (PFFFI). Also, Figure 2 reveals the tremendous progress made from one state’s effort to fight against food deserts. The support it gained from the citizens proves that with the right solution, food desert can be contained and hopefully eliminated. This successful act against food deserts planted a seed of hope for the citizens in Chicago today.
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/0/7/29074265/9811783.png?369)
The beginning of the food desert epidemic can be dated back to the mid-20th century. The food deserts began growing due to a national phenomenon called the White Flight, which eventually led to racial resegregation. The White Flight is a term coined in the 1960s in the US for the sudden dispersion of white population into the suburbs. As a result, racially desegregated Chicago neighborhoods became nearly 100% black neighborhoods (McClelland). For example, according to Edward McClelland in NBC Chicago, Englewood is 98.5% black and 0.6% white. More specifically, the white population “plummeted from 51,583 to 818” (The Chicago Reporter qtd. in McClelland). These detrimental numbers verify the existence of White Flight and the resegregation that resulted from it. In Figure 1, Emily Badger, a former staff writer for The Atlantic Cities and now an experienced writer for The Washing Post, illustrates the White Flight especially in these mid-eastern states. When zoomed in, the image depicts Cook County, Chicago in dark orange to symbolize 15.5% white population lost; therefore, the severity of resegregation catalyzed the growth of food deserts. As the consumers left for the suburbs, the industries followed. Without these industries, thousands of jobs were instantly lost. This left the previously shown predominantly black population to face the consequences of skyrocketed unemployment rate and the beginning of food desert epidemic. Also, as industrialization began, mechanization replaced physical labor of farming, and as a result, the 20 million Victory Gardens from World War II were quickly overtaken by factories, which ultimately destroyed these citizens’ means of provision. This historical cause was catalyzed and worsened by the White Flight which left the majority of Chicago predominantly black and low-income. Since these citizens lacked the money, they could not spend money on healthy but expensive food choices and consequently, local food stores went out of business, which explains the patches of food deserts especially in low-income neighborhoods (whyhunger.org). Evident from the historical background of how the food desert epidemic started, food deserts is now a national crisis that must be dealt with.
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Regarding Chicago specifically, their food desert crisis has slightly alleviated but not nearly as much as Pennsylvania mainly because of the lack of bold action against it. According to studies and research done by the Mari Gallagher Research Group, the majority of Chicago has very low Food Balance Scores and inevitably high Body Mass Index. As seen in Figure 3, Chicago still has a huge issue with Food Balance Scores which ultimately leads to unnaturally high Body Mass Index. Food Balance Score provides whether the region possesses and consumes balanced foods. The problems of food deserts include high rates of chronic illnesses and the excessively far and extremely rare grocery stores or retailers that possess healthy fresh foods. However, H.R. 2343: The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), proposed by Democratic Pennsylvanian Representative Allyson Schwartz on June 12th, 2013 (H.R. 2343). This bill seeks to “amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish initiative to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas, create and preserve quality jobs, and revitalize low-income communities by providing loans and grants to eligible fresh food retailers” to overcome the financial barriers in starting a business in these neighborhoods such as Chicago (H.R. 2343). It is partnered with multiple foundations and organizations such as The Food Trust which is a nonprofit organization established in 1992 that provides nutritional education classes for the public. However, roadblocks exist in the way of this solution; the oppositions say that this solution is too costly, does not guarantee any results and it doesn’t have a specific time frame. In contrast, as shown in PFFFI, it may seem costly but it definitely provided results that greatly increased the health of Pennsylvania. If it can help an entire state, it can most definitely help a suffering city. This may be the best possible solution to fight against the food desert epidemic because of its wide coverage, clear cost-effectiveness, and successful results.
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HFFI has the scope to cover the entire state of Illinois, however, understanding that the task of fighting food deserts is more daunting than it seems, HFFI must focus on a particular city, in this case, Chicago. Just in Chicago, there are 2.72 million citizens so the challenge is not reduced by any means but it is more focused on the people that are suffering the most in Illinois since Chicago is predominantly covered with food desert regions. HFFI will reduce the severity of the food desert epidemic by improving access to fresh foods, creating jobs and incentivizing retailers to start their fresh food businesses in Chicago. This, however, does not tackle the entire problem as previously stated, but it tackles the most prominent cause of food deserts which is the lack of fresh foods. As seen previously in Figure 3, it will help the majority of Chicago as they are mainly unhealthy which means at least 1.36 million citizens will benefit from this solution which is 1.36 million more than the citizens it would have helped without this specific solution. This solution is almost guaranteed to give successful results because of the success of PFFFI in 2004 in Pennsylvania. HFFI was proposed based on the results of PFFFI which aimed to help the entire city. However, if HFFI is focused on a much narrower population, its results is basically guaranteed and should be exponentially better because instead of serving 12.88 million citizens of Illionis, it will focus its attention on 2.72 million Chicago citizens. The process of implementation begins with passing this bill in Congress. Even though it only has about 5% chance of being passed in the House of Representatives, it has been progressing each year with increasing support from other Representatives who believe in the results of HFFI (GovTrack.us). And with the increasing education of food deserts and its effects, the support will increase exponentially in due time since the food desert epidemic is still an obscure idea to most American citizens. The second step of implementation would be to start improving access to fresh foods by incentivizing fresh food retailers to start their businesses in Chicago by providing loans and grants to overcome the financial barriers of starting up a new business in an urban city.
Instead of spreading the loans and grants to an entire state, this solution can focus on just Chicago which allows its citizens and local retailers to benefit fully from the bill. An ancestor bill, PFFFI, spent about $85 million to fund the new projects and local retailers. Therefore, this bill is projected to spend about $50 million to fund these retailers but the obesity epidemic costs alone was $147 million in 2013. Including other healthcare costs, its cost will be unimaginable. With that in mind, funding $50 million to prevent further increase in healthcare costs and eventually decrease it is much more effective than taking no action against food deserts and allowing it to grow as it has been for the past 54 years (H.R. 2343). Although Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) haven’t done a cost analysis for this bill yet, it can be clearly observed that the benefits of implementing this solution greatly outweigh the cost of this bill. Its short-term benefit is that it will immediately start providing loans and grants to local retailers which will catalyze the improvement in accessibility of fresh foods. Not only that but in the long term, it will also decrease chronic illness rates and overall healthcare costs. According to Xerox, the cost of healthcare will continue to increase but enhanced funding will decrease as time goes by and it calls for help and the primary reducer would be the citizens themselves since they can now make a conscious effort to keep their bodies healthier through this solution. This solution does not call for any extra taxes but rather reallocates the state’s and city’s budgets so that its cost will not be excessive and unreasonable. HFFI states in its bill that it will reallocate some of its budget to funding this bill in loans and grants.
There is an alternative solution to HFFI and that is H.R. 1933: Let’s Grow Act of 2013, proposed by Marcia Fudge, a Democratic Representative from Ohio, on May 9th, 2013. This bill seeks to direct the USDA secretary to carry out the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, which is a community campaign that seeks to add healthier snacks for kids in corner stores (H.R. 1933). However, this has grown to adding more grocery stores and healthier foods in these stores. It also seeks to give grants to provide farmers' markets and invest in local bus systems to increase accessibility to food. It is also giving incentive grants to those who spend money at these fresh food retailers and farmers' markets. Also, to entice the farmers' markets to install the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s Electronic Benefit System (EBT), which is a system for low-income families to access food, this act seeks to give the market grants. EBT is also used in H.R. 2343 which proves to show that EBT is feasible. Two separate bills proposed similar ideas of EBT which seeks to incentivize consumers to spend money on healthy food options instead of liquor or highly processed foods (SNAP). This alternative solution rooted from a local campaign in Philadelphia called the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) which was founded to be a viable solution to change the food landscape of Philadelphia (Karpyn). And Figure 5 illustrates what kind of people it is helping by creating new grocery stores, improving the existing ones and building Farmers’ Markets. The coverage of this solution is indeed effective since it will benefit all the population in the area but the feasibility is very low. Although it has been gaining support and improving cities across the nation, it is not nearly as effective as HFFI because of its one and only focus of improving grocery stores. This solution seems like it could help the food desert crisis but it will not pass the rigorous oppositions due to its lack of definite results and detail. This bill lacks the foundation of how this bill came to be. Unlike, H.R. 1933, HFFI has a foundation of the PFFFI which succeeded tremendously. In the end, H.R. 2343’s HFFI resolves to be the best possible solution to fight against food deserts.
Instead of spreading the loans and grants to an entire state, this solution can focus on just Chicago which allows its citizens and local retailers to benefit fully from the bill. An ancestor bill, PFFFI, spent about $85 million to fund the new projects and local retailers. Therefore, this bill is projected to spend about $50 million to fund these retailers but the obesity epidemic costs alone was $147 million in 2013. Including other healthcare costs, its cost will be unimaginable. With that in mind, funding $50 million to prevent further increase in healthcare costs and eventually decrease it is much more effective than taking no action against food deserts and allowing it to grow as it has been for the past 54 years (H.R. 2343). Although Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) haven’t done a cost analysis for this bill yet, it can be clearly observed that the benefits of implementing this solution greatly outweigh the cost of this bill. Its short-term benefit is that it will immediately start providing loans and grants to local retailers which will catalyze the improvement in accessibility of fresh foods. Not only that but in the long term, it will also decrease chronic illness rates and overall healthcare costs. According to Xerox, the cost of healthcare will continue to increase but enhanced funding will decrease as time goes by and it calls for help and the primary reducer would be the citizens themselves since they can now make a conscious effort to keep their bodies healthier through this solution. This solution does not call for any extra taxes but rather reallocates the state’s and city’s budgets so that its cost will not be excessive and unreasonable. HFFI states in its bill that it will reallocate some of its budget to funding this bill in loans and grants.
There is an alternative solution to HFFI and that is H.R. 1933: Let’s Grow Act of 2013, proposed by Marcia Fudge, a Democratic Representative from Ohio, on May 9th, 2013. This bill seeks to direct the USDA secretary to carry out the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, which is a community campaign that seeks to add healthier snacks for kids in corner stores (H.R. 1933). However, this has grown to adding more grocery stores and healthier foods in these stores. It also seeks to give grants to provide farmers' markets and invest in local bus systems to increase accessibility to food. It is also giving incentive grants to those who spend money at these fresh food retailers and farmers' markets. Also, to entice the farmers' markets to install the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s Electronic Benefit System (EBT), which is a system for low-income families to access food, this act seeks to give the market grants. EBT is also used in H.R. 2343 which proves to show that EBT is feasible. Two separate bills proposed similar ideas of EBT which seeks to incentivize consumers to spend money on healthy food options instead of liquor or highly processed foods (SNAP). This alternative solution rooted from a local campaign in Philadelphia called the Healthy Corner Store Initiative (HCSI) which was founded to be a viable solution to change the food landscape of Philadelphia (Karpyn). And Figure 5 illustrates what kind of people it is helping by creating new grocery stores, improving the existing ones and building Farmers’ Markets. The coverage of this solution is indeed effective since it will benefit all the population in the area but the feasibility is very low. Although it has been gaining support and improving cities across the nation, it is not nearly as effective as HFFI because of its one and only focus of improving grocery stores. This solution seems like it could help the food desert crisis but it will not pass the rigorous oppositions due to its lack of definite results and detail. This bill lacks the foundation of how this bill came to be. Unlike, H.R. 1933, HFFI has a foundation of the PFFFI which succeeded tremendously. In the end, H.R. 2343’s HFFI resolves to be the best possible solution to fight against food deserts.
![Picture](/uploads/2/9/0/7/29074265/2348892.png?477)
Food deserts are becoming a wider-known epidemic each and every day because its causes and effects are shared to the public. With that in mind, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, also known as H.R. 2343, is the more feasible solution to fight against this epidemic because of its wide coverage that can magnify its effects when focused down into one city, the clearly cost-beneficial and cost-effectiveness. The solution is feasible but it is also the citizens’ responsibility to implement into their lives. Even though there have been efforts to decrease obesity in the US by eating healthier, it has not made a dent in the obesity rates. In Figure 6, the average calories per day is illustrated to show that it has increased by 500 calories in only 40 years. In perspective, 500 calories is about one more breakfast which means that compared to 1970, citizens eat about one more meal than before. On top of that, Figure 7 reveals that instead of consuming extra fats, citizens swapped it for carbohydrates which is equally unhealthy. The problem of obesity isn’t just in their diets but in the region they live in: food deserts. With citizens being more educated on this topic, HFFI’s public support will continue to rise but in order to gain more support in Congress, citizens must contact them through email, letters, phone calls and even face-to-face appointments. Every action counts.
Works Cited
Badger, Emily. Net White Migration during the 1970s. Digital image. The Atlantic Cities. The
Atlantic Cities, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Emily badger, a former writer for The Atlantic Cities and a current writer for The Washington Post, argues that one can learn where the fortunes of the nation will be by observing the migration over the years. Badger writes a recent informative graphic article for an up-to-date publication in the field of maps. In order to support her thesis that by observing the migration patterns, one can know which cities are thriving, she provides multiple graphs and charts that are easily understood. Badger is writing for The Atlantic Cities which means she targets the audience who is middle-class educated and are interested in a particular city, in this case, Chicago.
"Food Deserts." Food Empowerment Project. Food Empowerment Project, n.d. Web. 22 Apr.
2014.
Gallagher, Mari. Chicago’s Food Deserts by Tract with Community Boundaries. Digital
Image. Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, 2006. Web.
20 Apr. 2014.
Gallagher, Mari. "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in
Chicago." Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, n.d.
Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Author: Mari Gallagher is the Principal of the Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, which researches the public and consults organizations and government agencies on how to further improve the community. She has authored over 100 studies on food access, community health and multiple other community-related topics. These prove that she is an expert in the field of food deserts and thereby a valuable expert in the topic of food deserts.
Publishers: The publishers of Mari Gallagher’s research and consultations is not just one place. Gallagher has over a 100 publishers such as the Harvard, MIT and even her own research and consulting group. Her affiliations with these publishers are directly related to the Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group since the goal is to provide better community health. As a result, Gallagher and her publishers share the same audience, which is the educated citizens who are interested in reforming a suffering community’s health. Gallagher’s expertise lies directly in food access and community health; therefore, she is credible.
Relevance: The information found in this article is directly relevant to my topic of food deserts. Gallagher provides statistics, graphs arguments and solutions to deal with this growing crisis. As previously stated, this article is essentially made up of hard facts and arguments derived from those facts. As a result, I am able to dive deeper into the topic of food deserts by learning the reality of its seriousness through hard data. I plan to use the sources found in these arguments mainly in my introduction to emphasize the effects of food deserts and why it should be taken under critical consideration.
Comprehensiveness: I consider this academic article a well-balanced and mostly unbiased because of the prevalence of hard facts. Facts cannot be made up; therefore, the audience understands that this is the reality, not a biased opinion. Gallagher provides a thorough research article because of the range of its data. It does not focus on one part of the effects of food deserts but it actually visualizes many aspects of it.
Timeliness: This article was posted in 2013, therefore, the statistics are mostly up-to-date and the analysis of these statistics illustrates the reality of the problems caused by food deserts in the East. Since this article was so thorough, it must at least a couple of years on top of the year of waiting for publishing. During those years, food deserts were not taken as seriously as they are now. As for me, I did not even know the existence of food deserts until this year. I am a college student and yet I did not know the crisis occurring right under my feet.
"Healthy Food Financing Initiative (H.R. 2343)." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Holzman, David C. "A Healthy Food Financing Initiative." Environmental Health
Perspectives 118.4 (2010): n. pag. The Food Trust. The Food Trust, 12 Mar. 2012. Web.
28 May 2014.
Karpyn, Allison. Green For All (n.d.): n. pag. Green For All. Green For All, 2009. Web.
Khazan, Olga. "Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Won't Stop Obesity." The Atlantic. Atlantic
Media Company, 02 June 2014. Web. 02 June 2014.
McClelland, Edward. "White Flight, By The Numbers." NBC Chicago. NBC Chicago, 6 May
2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative." The Reinvestment Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June
2014.
"Public Agrees on Obesity's Impact, Not Government's Role." Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press RSS. PewResearch, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 June 2014.
SNAP. "Your Benefits." SNAP Benefits and EBT. USDA, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Thomas, Monifa. “88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times.” 88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times. Chicago Sun Times, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Xerox. "Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare Costs." Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare
Costs (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 29 May 2014.
Badger, Emily. Net White Migration during the 1970s. Digital image. The Atlantic Cities. The
Atlantic Cities, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
Emily badger, a former writer for The Atlantic Cities and a current writer for The Washington Post, argues that one can learn where the fortunes of the nation will be by observing the migration over the years. Badger writes a recent informative graphic article for an up-to-date publication in the field of maps. In order to support her thesis that by observing the migration patterns, one can know which cities are thriving, she provides multiple graphs and charts that are easily understood. Badger is writing for The Atlantic Cities which means she targets the audience who is middle-class educated and are interested in a particular city, in this case, Chicago.
"Food Deserts." Food Empowerment Project. Food Empowerment Project, n.d. Web. 22 Apr.
2014.
Gallagher, Mari. Chicago’s Food Deserts by Tract with Community Boundaries. Digital
Image. Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, 2006. Web.
20 Apr. 2014.
Gallagher, Mari. "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in
Chicago." Marigallagher.com. Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, n.d.
Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
Author: Mari Gallagher is the Principal of the Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, which researches the public and consults organizations and government agencies on how to further improve the community. She has authored over 100 studies on food access, community health and multiple other community-related topics. These prove that she is an expert in the field of food deserts and thereby a valuable expert in the topic of food deserts.
Publishers: The publishers of Mari Gallagher’s research and consultations is not just one place. Gallagher has over a 100 publishers such as the Harvard, MIT and even her own research and consulting group. Her affiliations with these publishers are directly related to the Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group since the goal is to provide better community health. As a result, Gallagher and her publishers share the same audience, which is the educated citizens who are interested in reforming a suffering community’s health. Gallagher’s expertise lies directly in food access and community health; therefore, she is credible.
Relevance: The information found in this article is directly relevant to my topic of food deserts. Gallagher provides statistics, graphs arguments and solutions to deal with this growing crisis. As previously stated, this article is essentially made up of hard facts and arguments derived from those facts. As a result, I am able to dive deeper into the topic of food deserts by learning the reality of its seriousness through hard data. I plan to use the sources found in these arguments mainly in my introduction to emphasize the effects of food deserts and why it should be taken under critical consideration.
Comprehensiveness: I consider this academic article a well-balanced and mostly unbiased because of the prevalence of hard facts. Facts cannot be made up; therefore, the audience understands that this is the reality, not a biased opinion. Gallagher provides a thorough research article because of the range of its data. It does not focus on one part of the effects of food deserts but it actually visualizes many aspects of it.
Timeliness: This article was posted in 2013, therefore, the statistics are mostly up-to-date and the analysis of these statistics illustrates the reality of the problems caused by food deserts in the East. Since this article was so thorough, it must at least a couple of years on top of the year of waiting for publishing. During those years, food deserts were not taken as seriously as they are now. As for me, I did not even know the existence of food deserts until this year. I am a college student and yet I did not know the crisis occurring right under my feet.
"Healthy Food Financing Initiative (H.R. 2343)." GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Holzman, David C. "A Healthy Food Financing Initiative." Environmental Health
Perspectives 118.4 (2010): n. pag. The Food Trust. The Food Trust, 12 Mar. 2012. Web.
28 May 2014.
Karpyn, Allison. Green For All (n.d.): n. pag. Green For All. Green For All, 2009. Web.
Khazan, Olga. "Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Won't Stop Obesity." The Atlantic. Atlantic
Media Company, 02 June 2014. Web. 02 June 2014.
McClelland, Edward. "White Flight, By The Numbers." NBC Chicago. NBC Chicago, 6 May
2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative." The Reinvestment Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 June
2014.
"Public Agrees on Obesity's Impact, Not Government's Role." Pew Research Center for the
People and the Press RSS. PewResearch, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 June 2014.
SNAP. "Your Benefits." SNAP Benefits and EBT. USDA, n.d. Web. 03 June 2014.
Thomas, Monifa. “88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times.” 88,000 in Illinois Select Health Plan under Affordable Care Act – Chicago
Sun-Times. Chicago Sun Times, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.
Xerox. "Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare Costs." Eight Ways to Reduce State Healthcare
Costs (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 29 May 2014.