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Food Deserts among American Minorities

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The Executive Summary

The policy white paper as the names suggest entails various recommendations and

suggestions that the government should undertake to save those minority in America that have

insufficient food. Food, being the basic human right, has been used a saviour of living not even a

single individual could go without food. However, it is not enough to say that, though the United

States of America may be seen as a developed country, not everybody gets access to the food

(Cooksey-Stowers et al., 2017). Therefore, this has prompted various commissions set to protect

human rights to develop a policy white paper concerning food shortages so that it helps the

government to implement strategies that could help in mitigating the issue of food shortage

among the minorities in America.

In this policy white paper, the problem of food desserts will be explored since it is not

only a problem of policy but also it leads to racial discrimination among the minorities in

America. However, the historical background of food deserts in the United States will also be

provided since America is believed as a more developed country since many people may not

believe that there are minority of Americans who server from food desserts (MacNell et al.,

2017). The quantitative analysis of Americans that have access to food and those that suffer food

desert will be analyzed. This will create a framework of developing a more efficient white paper

policy that the president of United States will find enough reason to implement a policy that will

protect the minority by ensuring that they get access to food.

However, the way Americans think about the food deserts for the minority. The existing

research requires prior analysis so that minority in Americans may not feel much stigmatized.

The results of the food desert in America is quite illustrative. For example, it has led to racial

discrimination. The White Americans are the most majority when it comes to race, while the
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largest ethnic minorities are the Latino and Hispanic. Based on the race and ethnicity among the

Americans, it will be easy to identify the number of Minority Americans that suffer from food

deserts. The Hispanic and Latino forms 18.5% of the entire population in America, Non-

Hispanic on the other hand forms 60.1% while Native America and Alaska are 1.3% of the total

population (Berkowitz et al., 2018). (At the end of the paper, recommendations for implementing

the policy will also be provided. This will help the government in implementing the policy.

Introduction

The challenges and trends that are associated with the food shortage are quite alarming,

and this has prompted the international CARE which is associated with programs of distributing

food. The food insecurity that leads to food deserts can be contained by managing those that are

vulnerable and affected by the food desert crisis so that the government can easily identify

proper ways of containing the menace. America being the most developed country, still faces the

issue of food desert which has, in turn, lead to discrimination of Americans along with their

ethnic groups such as race and colour. This may be quite devastating and may lead to the entire

government’s insecurity which can lead to poor utilization of resources and decrease in the

people’s living standards (Rodier et al., 2017). The best approach is developing policies that

would guide the government and its agencies in developing proper ways of mitigating the issue

and problems brought about by the food desert. The purpose of this paper is to explore the results

of food dessert among the minority in America. Therefore, this policy white paper will be a basis

of motivating the U.S. president to support those that face food insecurity so that their lives are

saved. This paper also will provide recommendations for implementing policies that aim at

protecting the minority Americans against any form of discrimination resulting food problem.

Background of Problem
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Food deserts refer to areas where access to food such as fresh fruits, vegetables and other

life-sustaining goods do not exist because there is the absence of stalls and agencies that could

provide aid for such services within a convenient time and distance. In the perspective of the

U.S., the food desert has been taken as both a menace and as a tool for making policies. The

technical team that lead to the development of policies can use the issue of food dessert to

condense the dynamics that are surrounding the issue of food deserts. Moreover, as a tool for

policymaking, it helps in creating political awareness that would, in turn, help the policymakers

define the problem of food dessert as a concept that requires community and proper specific use

of its context (Cooksey-Stowers et al., 2017). The conceptualization of food insecurity and food

desert in united states helps in gaining privileges that could help in raising issues and

understanding the concept of structural inequalities. In a nutshell, the use of food deserts a tool

for policymaking lies on the way academicians in the United States uses it to analyze various

forms of inequalities.

The census was done in 2000 by the Department of Agriculture in the U.S, that is

(USDA) shows that 6,500 tracts were based on food desert. This is an analysis taken from the

locality of supermarkets and farmers markets with the grocery stores. However, the history of

food desert can be traced back to 1990 due to analysis of the poverty rates among various

minorities in America. For example, the Hispanic and Blacks in America had fewer

supermarkets, but the small groceries were inexistent in large number. The small groceries

available could not even provide healthy and more established food that could be used to

mitigate poverty among minority Americans. After 13 years, the research showed that Young

American women were suffering from obesity with various diseases such as obesity (MacNell et

al., 2017). This was noticed by Baltimore, a nurse who identified that the young-American
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women were living in areas with poor health conditions and fewer supermarkets. The cause of

such unavailability of supermarkets was due to poor transportation and that there were no parks

and areas of the gym where young American women could practice. Therefore, the main cause

of food desert was identified as lack of sources of healthy and sufficient food.

Taking food desert as a broader issue among the minority Americans is the provision of

basic services such as access to healthy food. Moreover, the areas that had been identified as

food deserts involves low income with a large number of households. The number of retailers

that could aid in providing and distributing food was a limited number that could not manage the

huge households. The means of transportation also is another problem that makes it difficult for

transporting health food to the Minority of Americans. However, the general solutions of the

problems as identified by the researchers in the United States were to develop policies that could

help in preventing and protecting the minority group from such form of discrimination (Rodier et

al., 2017). Therefore, this means that the cause of food desert among the minority in America is

due to negligence by the government to provide basic services such as improving infrastructure,

among them is roads. In this case, the rhetoric issue is the government need to deliver basic

services that could encourage investors to develop supermarket and groceries that would, in turn,

help in distributing healthy food.

However, to bring change to the Minority group in America, access to healthy food and

other services such as gym should be made available. This will, in turn, require the U.S.

government to take a firm position in ensuring that such services are made available. However,

this may find the government in a position that could not undertake what is required to save the

lives of the minority Americas from effects such as dehydration, discrimination and obesity. The

best solution is, therefore developing a policy that could guide the government on how they will
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implement and undertake their measures towards saving the minority (MacNell et al., 2017).

Another strategy is expanding the availability of nutrition in areas of desert food. This will help

eliminate the issue of low-income rate with large households. The government agencies such as

the USAID and other departments such as USDA should work hand in hand in ensuring that the

nutritious and healthy food is made available to the minority Americans.

Methodology

As a matter of accuracy and to determine the appropriate distribution of food deserts

among the minority Americans, the quantitative approach was used. This approach was used in

diverse areas, including the distance between that lead to the accessibility of healthy food, the

locations of large supermarkets and the location of large grocery stores. This was then measured

using square kilometre that aids in analyzing the geographical locations of the desert food. The

squared kilometre used was in the form of grids that were majorly based on the census done

between 2000 and 2006 (Dutko et al., 2012). The data collected take into consideration the

demographic locations of the minority and their social-economic status. The grid is then used to

distribute the data in that in one grid cell, the distance between a geographic centre and a large

supermarket is then used to measure the accessibility of people to healthy and nutritious food.

The use of grids provides a more precise measurement of people’s accessibility of

services by measuring the distance and location. All the results obtained was performed by the

census tract where it takes into account the level of income that identifies a large population of

the minority Americans were earning a low income. The low access to income is characterized

by the at least 500 people out of the total population resides in areas that had to travel I mile to

get access to the grocery or the supermarket in urban areas. In rural areas, they were considered

to be 10 miles away from accessibility (Rodier et al., 2017). The information collected from the
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grocery and supermarkets also helps in analyzing the data. In this case, a large supermarket or

grocery will be defined by its amount of stock it holds. However, the value used is $2 million of

sales found within a grocery or supermarket will signify a large grocery or supermarket. From

the definitions above, the census done in 2006 shows that 6500 people met the measurement

requirement of the census tract.

Literature Review

The status of food desert among the minority in America is still an issue that requires

more academic effort and research so that the policies developed should align with the

appropriate decisions that should be made available so that the minority America should not field

abandoned. Access to nutrition and healthy food is the main determinant of food desert among

the minority Americans. From the research of descriptive analysis, there are still many activities

that require improvement so that the issue of food desert problem is eliminated. For example, the

issue on education level, which in turn affect the level of income should be clearly stated, and the

government should take a firm position in ensuring that such basics needs are implemented in

desert areas (MacNell et al., 2017). This raises questions that require proper research. For

example, how access to education will be facilitated to all the minority groups in America. With

such restrictive access to basic services and good infrastructure, the minorities are then forced to

pay higher prices to acquire food thus leading them to opt for less diet food which will in turn;

lead to negative health impacts and outcomes.

From the past studies concerning the problem of food desert among the minority in the

United States, the focus has been mainly on the correlation that exists between the population

and their social-economic activities including race, education and their level of income. the focus

also is aligned to the accessibility of services based on the means of transportation. However,
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despite the results being more precise in determining the desert food tracts, the research has been

mainly conducted within a specific area such as an urban centre or a rural area. However, in this

research, both the national level and localized levels have been used in conducting the research.

That’s the desert tracts, and non-desert tracts were compared (Berkowitz et al., 2018). Despite

the significant difference between the results of the desert food tracts, it is the more appropriate

basis of obtaining accurate results of the problem that exist among the minority Americans.

Therefore, this paper contributes to the research that is being done concerning the problem of the

food desert among minority Americans.

Despite the satisfaction provided by the data analyzed from both desert food tracts and

non-desert food tracts, there is still much in examining other possible measures that could help in

implementing the policies that would entirely help in solving the problems posed by desert food

for the minority groups. Moreover, there is still a lack of further findings that could enhance

understanding among the relationships that exist between the access to food and the neighbours

of the minority Americans (Dutko et al., 2012). This study focuses on the census done in the year

2000; therefore, further studies need to be undertaken. The department of USDA, obtain that the

population of those living in areas closer to supermarkets were an average population. The non-

Hispanic falls on the majority that had a higher income. This analysis contributes to scholarly

research that other authors are still undertaking to develop a broader analysis of desert food areas

and minority. This will, in turn, help in developing and amicable solution that will see the U.S.

government provide the necessary services to the minority.

Policy Options and Recommendations

The current policy that the U.S. uses to counter to effect of food desert does not get to the

extent of satisfaction. The failures with the policy include taxation of unhealthy food, the
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programs that aim at providing food assistant has changed drastically, thus making the policy

less effective to eliminate the food deserts. However, there have been efforts such as

implementing education programs among the minority Americans, facilitating access to

transportation and encouraging private sectors to venture into a business that could provide

nutritious food to the minority Americans. Based o confronting the trade-offs, the policy used in

eradicating food desert may be effective since it focuses on the outcome, helps in prioritizing the

risk nature that the food desert poses to minority Americans and that it helps to analyze and

deepen the analysis of various alternatives used to eradicate food desert (MacNell et al., 2017).

However, there exist disadvantages to this policy; for example, the results projected by using the

policy may not be effective and more costly than as expected. Moreover, policy implementation

may waste the taxpayer money, thus making it ineffective.

From the policy options presented, the commonly used evaluative criteria are useful in

trying the essence of eliminating food deserts in America. The criteria focus on efficiency, which

helps measure the welfare of an individual. Moreover, it enhances fairness and equity when

distributing resources. Therefore, when this criterion is used, the U.S. government will find a

more robust and effective way of distributing its resources equally to both the majority and the

minority. Equality before the law and making people free from poor governance is another

criterion that this option uses, thus enhancing good use of the policy (Bardach & Patashnik,

2019). This will, in turn, increase the government's efforts in eradicating food desert and

processes values that could help other stakeholders participate in eliminating poverty.

Implementation and Next Steps

The limited access to quality and healthy food among the U.S. minorities can be

eliminated by introducing a comprehensive policy that would help eliminate the menace. There
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are various mechanisms that the U.S. government uses to implement the policies that could

effectively eradicate the issue of dessert food. These mechanisms involve legislative actions such

as using various government Acts to act as a mechanism of implementing the policy. The

Greening Food Desert Act, for example, was legislated so that environments of health food and

products (Dutko et al., 2012). The legislation also helps develop programs that help campaign for

policy implementation. Some of the programs also may involve enhancing education so that

minority are directly connected to utilizing the available resources to earn their living. Initiating

education enables the minority to strengthen their ties with the use of available resources to

cultivate and create value that will enhance the eradication of the desert food among the

minority.

Some initiatives help in implementing the policies. In North Carolina, for example,

develop an initiative that converges the entire community to a common point that was used as a

point of serving and supplying healthy food and nutrition to the minority Americans in their

community. The focal point could be used to distribute various types of food, among them, are

vegetables and fruits. The other strategy is communities partnering with the public and the

government with the sole aim of implementing a policy that would help effectively eradicate the

problems of desert food (Berkowitz et al., 2018). This may involve an entrepreneur developing a

business that deals with the supply of nutritious food and then look for government support in

advancing its operations. By doing all the above activities, the government and the private

sectors will be able to implement the policies that would help eradicate the menace entirely.

Once the above mechanisms are used, the implementation of the policy will be much

easier. The future of the policy implementation will depend on how the key players that are the

government do to ensure that the future of the policy is not unfolded. Moreover, the projection of
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the policy implementation process will require a break down of estimates that could bring

uncertainties. This may include the interventions from private stakeholders and the correct

estimate of the minority Americans, however, for a better analysis that will lead to accurate

projection of the outcome, the uncertainties such as the desire to change the alternative of

implementing the policy (Bardach & Patashnik, 2019). During the policy implementation also,

the government should be optimistic of about how the policy will help eradicate food desert

among the minority Americans. However, during policy implementation, side effects may be

encountered. This includes the policy may be discriminate the cultural practices of the minority

Americans, provide regulations that the government may not implement as soon as possible and

that those entrepreneurs looking for interests in the minority Americans may feel discriminated.

Therefore, the projection of the policy should be a broader picture that enhances good

implementation free from side effects that would affect the entire lives of the Minority

Americans rather than eliminating the food desert.

Conclusion

In this paper, the issue of desert food has been explored at large. The desert food among

the minority Americans is still an issue that is prompting researchers and academicians to

develop policies that would, in turn, help the U.S. government in eradicating the problems

caused by such issues. From the quantitative analysis done in this research, it is clear that most of

the minority Americans do not access health nutrition such as vegetables and fruits. Moreover, it

has been found that the cause of the food desert issue is a low level of income and poor

infrastructure such as roads. The level of education also, which is low among minority

Americans, is another issue that is leading to a low level of income. Therefore, taking the

perspective of the above findings, it is clear that developing initiatives such as partnering among
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communities and the public, developing education programs and also developing Acts that could

help eradicate the problem of food desert (Bishop et al., 2017). Therefore, the recommendations,

as provided above, show goodwill that the issue will be eradicated if the policies are

implemented. The U.S. president, therefore, should play a vital role in ensuring that the policies

are implemented, and the minority American are protected from the menace of a food desert.

Appendices

Figure 1: Percentage of Food Desert by Rural and Urban Status

Overall Data Data from Rural Data from Urban

Food desert tracts 6500 2200 4170
Low-income tracts 24,927 6500 17940
Total no. of tracts 64999 13800 50700
Percentage of low 26 33 23
income
Percentage of total 10 15 8
tracts

Figure 2: Characteristics of Food Deserts vs other Tracts

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patients with diabetes: a longitudinal analysis. Diabetes care, 41(6), 1188-1195.

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