We often think of rural America as the land of pot , where resources are at our disposal to feed our country - dwell universe . late inquiry says we postulate to opine again .
“ Food deserts”—the catchphrase championed by urban - husbandry and thirst - substitute groups across the country — aren’t just a problem for city folk . According to data collected by the USDA ’s Economic Research Service , about one in four Americans live in establishedfood deserts are in rural sphere .
“ Unfortunately , ‘ food deserts ’ is a catchy but rather nebulous term that is not clearly limit across the board with any certainty , ” say Shannon Traeger , spokesperson for Feeding America , the largest domestic hungriness - relief orginization in the U.S.
To the USDA , a nutrient desert means that a person in a rural expanse be more than 10 mile from the closest foodstuff store or supermarket . The way map out “ food - desert tracts ” based on nose count data ; however , not everyone live in a food - desert tract needfully has low access to nutrient — and down in the mouth access is key to understand America ’s hungry population .
In rural area , a number of component could play into why a person ca n’t get at intellectual nourishment , Traeger says , include food costs , lack of reliable transportation system , and lack of appropriate cooking or food - storage facilities . For small - exfoliation James Leonard Farmer desire to facilitate alleviate hunger where they live , there ’s no easy root .
“ As food insecurity looks different from county to county , so do the solutions , ” Traeger says . “ The undecomposed way to help hoi polloi confront thirst is to understand who is hungry and why they are hungry at the community level . ”
Through the Chesterfield Produce Auction alone , Rural Action has increased food distribution from local farmers by more than 100 per centum throughout the region ’s nutrient deserts . Established in 2009 in rural Ross County , where the impoverishment charge per unit is more than 17 per centum , the auction is , in event , using the wholesale model to give rural retailers easier , more affordable access to fresh , local foods .
“ hoi polloi in rural areas get their food from places other than a food market store , ” says Tom Redfern , Rural Action ’s sustainable agriculture coordinator . “ For example , there are resellers who purchase nutrient [ from the vendue ] and resell it at farm stand in rural expanse . ”
In addition to the auction , Rural Action go alocal - solid food websiteto link growers with retail outlets and runs Country Fresh Stop , which provides refrigerators and education to little - scale retail merchant in the area who want to sell more refreshed fruits and vegetable .
While not every county across the nation has a grouping that will undertake the intellectual nourishment - desert job the same fashion Rural Action has , small - scurf Fannie Merritt Farmer in all 50 province are clothe in feeding their local communities , and you could , too . Explore the work being done in your area throughFeeding America ’s National Produce Program , Fair Food internet ’s Fair Food Listand theUSDA ’s Food Desert Success Stories .
