Cultivating Racial Equity in Food Security

A Drought of Nourishment

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has become increasingly more severe, as more Americans are challenged with accessing nutritional and affordable food. This results in food deserts: areas where inexpensive, healthy food is limited or even unavailable. It is crucial to recognize that the presence of food deserts is closely intertwined with systemic race issues; people of color are more likely to live in areas with high poverty rates and few high-quality supermarkets. As a result, racial minorities are disproportionately affected by food insecurity and are forced to rely on unhealthy food alternatives including fast food for their daily nutrition.

There is a clear overlap between food access and justice. This is prevalent not only in the customer-facing portion of the food industry, but also while preparing food via processing facilities and agriculture. Industrial agriculture and mechanized food production has become incredibly pervasive in recent years, as fertilizers, pesticides, and artificial growth chemicals are employed to increase agricultural output. Large farms have typically been favored by government policies including those from the USDA, preventing smaller farms (which are often owned by people of color or women) from having a considerable portion of the food market.

In addition, food that is produced through such industrial processes consists of toxins that are damaging to consumers’ health; yet, this category of food is typically cheaper and more available in low-income communities compared to the more expensive, less processed alternative. Consequently, healthy food becomes stratified based on regional income, preventing underprivileged communities from accessing sufficiently nutritional food.

Source of Scarcity

Healthy food, including fresh produce and unprocessed food, is typically inaccessible and unaffordable for underprivileged individuals. African Americans generally have the least access to proper supermarkets, which is also evident for Native Americans who are overrepresented in areas with few, if any, supermarkets. This problem is mainly observed in low-income urban neighborhoods which often consist of a greater proportion of people of color. In particular, almost 40 million Americans live in areas with low food access.

This problem is deeply rooted in systemic issues relating to investment and infrastructure. There is less financial investment in lower-income neighborhoods, which means that convenience stores and fast food restaurants are more frequently established as a proxy for supermarkets. Chain supermarkets are actually more likely to open stores in relatively wealthy suburbs than communities that primarily comprise people of color. Furthermore, a lack of robust public transportation systems in low-income communities obstructs the process of traveling to supermarkets that are somewhat farther from one’s home. Overall, income inequality exacerbates the problem of food insecurity, preventing minorities and other low-income individuals from obtaining healthy food on a regular basis.

A Global Pandemic, An Absence of Food

The COVID-19 pandemic completely disrupted preexisting food systems, making it even more challenging for low-income populations to access food. Many small businesses like restaurants that rely on sit-in customers shut down, which means that the ones located in lower-income regions were no longer viable for daily meals. Furthermore, travel restrictions complicated the process of acquiring food for those who rely on public transportation to go to stores and supermarkets.

This is also relevant for the nutritional needs of young children, many of whom were unable to regularly get food from school due to lockdowns and school closures. While there were some pandemic relief measures in 2021 such as child tax credits that helped alleviate food insecurity and poverty among children, these expired the following year, making the status quo revert to its former state. It is important to note, nonetheless, that with the rise in online shopping during COVID-19, low-income families had another means of getting food even without traditional access to supermarkets.

Paths to Equitable Food Access

The most straightforward approach to remedying food insecurity is building more grocery stores in low-income areas. However, this strategy would be ineffective, as prices for supermarket food would be expensive regardless of the location. Establishing more cheap options for food would also be unproductive, as convenience stores and fast food restaurants are generally the most practical means of offering inexpensive food.

Truly enacting reform for food security in underprivileged regions requires community efforts that specifically target these communities. This includes local farmers’ markets, community gardens, food pantries, and soup kitchens in these localities. Additionally, policy changes from government agencies will further advance this goal. For example, government-sponsored food safety nets, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamps, help families pay for healthy food at a lower cost. Similarly, the Navajo Nation implemented taxes on unhealthy food to encourage initiatives for health consciousness and nutrition. Grassroots activism is also essential to this movement, as organizations like the Ron Finley Project, the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, and the Whitelock Community Farm are working to refine local supermarkets and other food institutions.

Works Cited

Alexis, Amber Charles. “What Are Food Deserts? All You Need to Know.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 14 June 2021, www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-deserts.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Communities With Limited Food Access in the United States.” The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 4 Aug. 2024, www.aecf.org/blog/communities-with-limited-food-access-in-the-united-states.

Ferguson, Rafter. “Why We Can’t Separate Justice and Sustainability in the Food System.” Union of Concerned Scientists, 31 Jan. 2019, blog.ucsusa.org/rafter-ferguson/why-we-cant-separate-justice-and-sustainability-in-the-food-system/.

Fernandez, Grace. “Food Insecurity in the Time of COVID.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 29 June 2022, publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/food-insecurity-in-the-time-of-covid.

Sevilla, Nina. “Food Apartheid: Racialized Access to Healthy Affordable Food.” NRDC, 2 Apr. 2021, www.nrdc.org/bio/nina-sevilla/food-apartheid-racialized-access-healthy-affordable-food.