Let's Talk Food Deserts

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8.9 million Americans are working multiple jobs. As life seems to be growing increasingly busy and it is more difficult to earn a living wage, where does our relationship with food stand?

In this audio piece, I discuss the consequences of not having time for full nutritious meals along with what this means for those who don't have quick access to healthy foods with two professors in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Howard University. The article below will dive deeper into some of their responses and the topics they bring up.

Howard University College of Medicine & community gardens 

Johnson shared that when he first started working at Howard University in 2011, there was a community garden program where medical and nursing students adopted families in D.C. communities and planted gardens in their neighborhood or at their homes.  

During his time teaching, he has had a group of students who formulated a plan to have a food truck that resembles an ice cream truck but that will serve fresh fruit and vegetables along with educational material. 

“There is an understanding in the [Black] community that food is one of our problems,” Johnson said. “And there are activists who are working to educate people and to try to implement innovative solutions so that the negative effects of food deserts are not amplified.” 

Currently, Richardson is part of a program with the goal of lessening food insecurity in the College of Medicine. The FARM (Food Access and Resilience Model) is in the early stages of planning. The program has been approved by the Institutional Review Board to collect data from students through a survey. The preliminary data that has been collected, Richardson said will be used to seek funding for the garden's establishment. 

The FARM’s research aspect will determine the types of foods that will be planted in their food garden and understanding if there is a need for the program. The research will allow the program to be sustainable, Richardson said.  

Richardson said community gardens directly affect their communities regarding autonomy, obesity, overall health status and quality of life. 

“What we put into our bodies has a direct impact on our health, and I think primarily having fresh produce and having it accessible gives us healthier food choices.” 

Systematic changes continued 

Richardson stated that a systematic change she would like to see is communities facing food challenges to know what is available to them.  

“I think it's important for us as a community to know that we have choices in how and where we spend our money, and that once we decide to make our selection and our health a priority, then we spend our money in that way,” she said. “I will say that all communities do not have access to the same variety, or access to healthy foods as some others, and it's directly correlated with, unfortunately, the comorbidities that you see in the health challenge.” 

To add on to the programs she mentioned in the audio piece, she said “within our primary care office, our family medicine practice here at Howard, our providers are able to write prescriptions for patients to go and get food from local farmers markets.” 

Looking to the future 

Richardson expressed concern regarding growing rates of food insecurity in D.C.

“I believe, looking at the data in 2021 at least 10.6% of our households in Washington, D.C. struggled to afford enough food, and just given our current political climate, the uncertainty that we have around our livelihood and just instability in terms of our families I would only imagine that those percentages, those rates, would increase,” Richardson said.  

Because of this, Richardson wants to highlight the importance of communities coming together to support one another.  

Johnson’s fears are towards America, which he believes is “obesogenic.”  

“Our society promotes obesity with ultra processed foods, proportion sizes, etcetera,” Johnson said. “I am concerned for the future, the percentage of people in the U.S. who are overweight and obese is rising, that is going to lead to more diabetes, more heart disease, more hypertension in the future. We have to start thinking about what we can do now to prevent that from happening.” 

Photo by Mário Rui André on Unsplash