February 1, 2012 | 8:20 AM | By

Why Food Deserts May Not Be To Blame

Much attention has been given to food deserts, which are low-income communities with limited access to super markets or large grocery stores. But a new survey by nonprofit Share Our Strength shows that most urban families are satisfied with their food options. Having time to cook and the price of groceries were more pressing concerns.

Food reporter Jane Black writes that the survey’s findings challenge the notion that food deserts are the major culprits in the fight against heath inequality. “It may be easier to plunk down a new Walmart in the inner city,” she writes. Interestingly enough, Walmart is one of the sponsors of the program that ran the survey, and the big box retailer’s plans to build six D.C. stores include a campaign emphasizing a lack of access to fresh foods in District neighborhoods.


The data reflects what my husband, Brent Cunningham, and I saw while reporting for six months in Huntington, West Virginia. Among the families we followed, the very poorest was the one most likely to cook healthy meals at home. But it required intense planning and basic cooking skills. The families least likely to eat well were the ones who, frankly, didn’t have to. They had enough money to swing by Burger King for dinner on the way home instead of cooking family meals and eating leftovers… They shopped impulsively, instead of methodically, at the grocery store, which meant their carts were filled with frozen pizzas, chips and snacks.

Read more at: www.janeblack.net

  • Anonymous

    One thing I completely failed to appreciate until I became a mom was how hard it is for parents to find time to cook. I get home at 6, and my 4-year-old daughter needs to head upstairs and start her bedtime routine at 7:30. So I have 90 minutes a day to hang out with my child (never mind my husband), and I want to spend as little of it as possible fixing supper. (She doesn’t want me to spend it in the kitchen, either; she interrupts me every couple minutes with all sorts of invented needs — which only makes dinner prep take longer.) These days I’m all about frozen microwavable rice covered in something that came out of a crock pot, because I can get food on the table in about five minutes and have that time to hang out with my family. And I’m lucky in a lot of ways — I only work one job, I have a partner to help, we only have one kid.

  • http://dcentric.wamu.org/ Elahe Izadi

    Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you have any tips on how to make quick and inexpensive meals?

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately, quick+cheap+good is hard to achieve — generally I settle for two out of three.

    The slow cooker really is awesome — you can buy whatever cut of beef is cheapest this week, and after 9 hours it’ll be super tender. Throw in a can of cream-of-whatever soup (my husband hates mushrooms, so I usually use cream of asparagus) or dump a jar of peperoncini on top — either way it’s yummy over rice, and it can cook all day while I’m at work and be ready for me to serve when I walk in the door. (Like I said, I use frozen rice. It’s not as cheap, but you can have brown rice ready in 5 minutes.)

    Also chicken breasts — I buy them when they have those BOGO jumbo packs on sale, cook them (immerse in cold water, bring to a boil, cover, cut the heat, and let sit for 20 minutes), then freeze them wrapped individually. When I’m ready to cook, I defrost one and shred it. You can mix it with a bag of frozen mixed veggies in a stir-fry, or toss it with noodles (thin vermicelli cooks quickly) and dressing for pasta salad. If I shred it up and mix it with rice/pasta, one chicken breast is enough for my family of three.

    I’m big on frozen veggies — they are nearly as nutritious as fresh (way better than canned), keep well, and cook quickly. Peas, in particular, freeze well — green beans, not so much. I put up with the time required to trim green beans (it always seems to take FOREVER) because the frozen ones just don’t compare.

    My family also loves tuna salad (last night my daughter actually hugged me in the middle of dinner and said, “Mommy, you make the BEST tuna sandwiches!”), but I’m concerned about mercury. I’ve tried canned salmon in lieu of tuna, and it works pretty well, but it’s definitely more expensive.

    Oh, and quesadillas — those are quick and easy, too, and if you make them in the broiler with cooking oil spray, they’re not quite as greasy.

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately, quick+cheap+good is hard to achieve — generally I settle for two out of three.

    The slow cooker really is awesome — you can buy whatever cut of beef is cheapest this week, and after 9 hours it’ll be super tender. Throw in a can of cream-of-whatever soup (my husband hates mushrooms, so I usually use cream of asparagus) or dump a jar of peperoncini on top — either way it’s yummy over rice, and it can cook all day while I’m at work and be ready for me to serve when I walk in the door. (Like I said, I use frozen rice. It’s not as cheap, but you can have brown rice ready in 5 minutes.)

    Also chicken breasts — I buy them when they have those BOGO jumbo packs on sale, cook them (immerse in cold water, bring to a boil, cover, cut the heat, and let sit for 20 minutes), then freeze them wrapped individually. When I’m ready to cook, I defrost one and shred it. You can mix it with a bag of frozen mixed veggies in a stir-fry, or toss it with noodles (thin vermicelli cooks quickly) and dressing for pasta salad. If I shred it up and mix it with rice/pasta, one chicken breast is enough for my family of three.

    I’m big on frozen veggies — they are nearly as nutritious as fresh (way better than canned), keep well, and cook quickly. Peas, in particular, freeze well — green beans, not so much. I put up with the time required to trim green beans (it always seems to take FOREVER) because the frozen ones just don’t compare.

    My family also loves tuna salad (last night my daughter actually hugged me in the middle of dinner and said, “Mommy, you make the BEST tuna sandwiches!”), but I’m concerned about mercury. I’ve tried canned salmon in lieu of tuna, and it works pretty well, but it’s definitely more expensive.

    Oh, and quesadillas — those are quick and easy, too, and if you make them in the broiler with cooking oil spray, they’re not quite as greasy.

  • http://dcentric.wamu.org/ Elahe Izadi

    See a follow-up on this here (including your comment): http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/02/on-blaming-food-deserts/

  • healthwarrier

     If you have time (like, if you have a day off, like Saturday, it really helps), do some advance prep of your vegetables.  It is usually cheaper to buy the whole vegetables (and much better for you) than the frozen ones.  Buy cuts of meat that have bones in them. Yes, it is hard to plunk down more $$$ for a whole chicken or a roast, but you can usually eat off of it for several meals. Then make broth out of the bones (in the crock pot, overnight) and make soup out of the broth. The main thing is that the more you cook your own, real and whole food as opposed to packaged, processed food, the healthier you and your family will be.  If you take shortcuts with your nutrition, it will catch up with you sooner or later — but it will catch up, you won’t feel well, there will be doctor visits and expenses, etc.  The most nutritious diet possible is high in vegetables and meat and animal fat (sorry, vegetarians, but this is true) and low in carbohydrates (sugar, starchy veg (potatoes) and grains (breads, pasta) and legumes).  Don’t eat much fruit.  No juices, unless fresh squeezed.  And lay off the processed foods.  If you dare — eliminate sugar entirely and reap the lifetime health benefits.  Read your labels.  All of this matters greatly. 

    As for the time it takes? Not so much more time, actually.  And the benefits of a healthy diet like the one I describe above include MORE ENERGY and enhanced wellbeing, so it will actually feel like you have more time, not so exhausted.