I thought the city of Detroit was the "poster child" of this concept? But that county is either yellow or orange (can tell which county precisely is Detroit).

Obviously yellow or orange is not *good* -- just surprised.

Good observation, T. This map lumps Detroit in with the rest of Wayne County, which is problematic since the rest of the county is suburban, with more plentiful food options.

I was just thinking to myself "oh, there are lots of shops I can get to to get food without a car" (I have no car) but I've just looked on a map and turns out I think "can get to without a car" extends to about 3 miles (there are 2 shops that sell food within 1 mile of me but both are mini-supermarkets with limited range, but perhaps they would count under this definition?).

I guess I'm wondering why 1 mile was chosen.

The paper does not consider all grocery stores and therefore probably overestimates the percentage of households in "food deserts". Funny that the original Slate source explicitly says "supermarket", while this post misleadingly replaces it with "grocery store".

Quotes from the original study:

"The analysis uses supermarkets and large grocery stores (hereafter defined
simply as “supermarkets”) as proxies for food retailers that offer a variety
of nutritious, affordable retail foods. The industry-standardized definition
requires that to be considered a supermarket, a retailer must have annual
sales of at least $2 million and contain all the major food departments found
in a traditional supermarket, including fresh meat and poultry, produce, dairy, dry and packaged foods, and frozen foods. [...] Using supermarkets and supercenters may underestimate the availability of affordable and nutritious food. Smaller grocery stores, neighborhood markets, or “dollar stores,” for example, sometimes include a range of healthful, affordable foods. Rose et al. (2009) and Sharkey and Horel (2009) both conducted in-store audits of food availability in these store types in New Orleans and in the Brazos Valley, Texas. The problem with including these stores in the analysis is that the range of foods sold in these stores was highly varied (Franco et al., forthcoming; Neckerman et al., 2009; Rose et al. 2009; and Sharkey and Horel, 2009). It would be impossible to do a complete national level audit of the contents of these stores."

I live in south Georgia. It's hardly a coincidence that the more rural areas of my state are the "worst off" according to this map - why on earth would a supermarket be located in these places? There are hardly any people. Who would be buying the food - the cows?

Oh, the black/Bible belt. Is there no category in which you guys don't get screwed over?

If you link this map up with an obesity map you get a fairly good match ... see the final 2009 map on http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html as an example.

Central Appalachia is quite dark, but probably not really a food desert. Living in the area, my guess would be that many households without a car are older people who are taken shopping by a neighbor or family member, who may actually live in a separate household nearby, quite possibly on the same property. Many more households in this area are also likely to be raising substantial gardens and putting up the results. Finally, using a 1-mile radius is completely unrealistic for rural areas, which most of the dark areas on the map appear to be.

I just realized we'd qualify as a "food dessert" family. No car, nearest store is exactly a mile away (it kind of sucks and is expensive & lacks organic options but still, there's lots of food there).

Anecdotally I wonder if people realize how much harder it is if you've got kids, or step-kids or kids in your care, than for instance my single carless friend that only has ourselves to feed.

Anyone consider that in rural areas people are more likely to grown their own food?
Urbanites could be considered impoverished and pitiful because they get all their food from a store.

I am very confused about St Louis County, MN-- the big red blotch at the top of MN. This county contains Duluth (which I know has some sort of public transit) and the smaller cities of the Iron Range (which are separated by many miles of highway, and as far as I know lack public transit). I definitely believe that many people live more than a mile from the nearest grocery store, but question the number of those same people who live sans car.

Food deserts in the U.S. are areas where residents have limited access to affordable and nutritious food, often due to a lack of grocery stores or transportation. These regions disproportionately affect low-income communities and contribute to poorer health outcomes, such as higher rates of obesity and diabetes. Addressing food deserts involves initiatives like improving transportation options, supporting local markets, and increasing funding for community gardens. While dining offers can help individuals save money on meals, they don't address the root causes of food insecurity in these underserved areas. More comprehensive solutions are needed to ensure that everyone has access to healthy and affordable food options.