In
this article from the Journal of Applied
Social Science, it talks about the limitations of food deserts and how it
is a potentially new wave of diet related and life threatening issues. Diseases
such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension are just a few example that they
list as a result of poor nutrition associated with food deserts. Other research
from outside fields such as sociology, economics, marketing, and agriculture
were also brought in as references to help provide facts and information.
Factors such as race, poverty, and lack of access are some of the contributors
to this epidemic. Over the last twenty years, a lack of access to food
environments such as supermarkets and grocery stores have impacted shopping
habits and therefore nutritional habits.
The
authors of this article are Anthony Troy Adams, Monika J. Ulrich, and Amanda
Coleman. All of them are respected professors at Arkansas State University. The
main subject of the text is about food deserts and they are a new and
potentially deadly nutrition based disease. Supporting text also includes
explanations of the arrival and growth of food deserts. The intended audience
of this text is towards those looking to learn what a food desert is and its
causes and effects. It is written in a scholarly way with the intention that
their audience would use the text for formal research.
I
intend to use this source in order to give a brief introduction and description
of food deserts, as well as what causes food deserts and its effects. I don’t
plan on relying heavily on this source simply because it does not provide as
much information and data as the other sources. I think that this source is
good for providing definitions, but it does not provide much statistical data
from a numbers standpoint. It is was great source, however to get started on my
topic and to become more familiar with it.
This article from the Advances in Applied Sociology journal
mainly focuses on a study done in Oregon about a new supermarket that opened in
an area that has long been considered a food desert. The area had recently been
going through a large increase in residents with a college degree and a higher
median income with whites being more likely to own their home and live closer
to the supermarket. The study focuses on the importance of race and how more
whites tend to use the new supermarket than non-whites. The findings of the
study show that supermarkets need to promote healthy living and environmental
conditions in a way to be sensitive to racial and economic barriers. This leads
to what the text calls “food mirages” by limiting access to poor and minority
residents.
The author, Daniel Monroe
Sullivan, works in the Department of Sociology at Portland State University.
The main subject of this text is the study conducted that shows the importance
of race when it comes to the building of supermarkets in food deserts. It gives
a warning to be careful and sensitive towards “racial and socioeconomic
barriers” that may create “food mirages” by not allowing access to everyone in
the food desert in need of these supermarkets. This article, along with the
study, was meant to inform and to educate about the importance of giving
everybody an equal opportunity to better themselves in a food desert type
environment.
This source provides a
great study with plenty of data that I plan on using in my research paper. As
opposed to some of my other sources, this one mainly talks about trying to
solve the issue of food deserts. While the other sources just simply define and
give the causes and effects of food deserts, I would be able to use this source
for its statistics and study on how to properly solve the issue of food
deserts.
This article from the Urban Studies journal starts off by
defining a food desert as a location where there are few to no supermarkets or
other retailers that offer fresh fruits and vegetables or other healthy foods. It
then goes on to analyze food desert residents in Detroit and their purchasing
behavior from a non-profit grocer. The evidence shows that access problems and
low income limit their consumption of healthy foods. One hypothesis that they
give for this is because food retailers avoid food deserts because those areas
with low income have a low demand for healthy, and typically more expensive
food.
Dave Weatherspoon, James
Oehmke, Assa Dembele, and Lorraine Weatherspoon are all professors at Michigan
State University. They focus mainly on the food deserts in Detroit, which they
say is the oldest and largest food desert in America. They talk about how the
low incomes of the area just are not sufficient enough to eat healthier, which
is evident in the data that they show where the amount of healthy foods bought
is very low. The intended audience for this article would be those who are
looking to learn more about food deserts and its causes through the use of a
study.
I plan on using this
source for its statistical data and conclusions from their study. Their study
was very well done, organized, and specific. I think that this source can fit
in well with my paper when I start to talk about examples of food deserts. It
also provides a few hypothesis as to the emergence of food deserts.
“11 Facts about Food Deserts.” DoSomething.org. n.p. 23 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
This
webpage lists 11 very interesting facts about food deserts. For example, about 2.3 million people (2.2% of
all US households) live in low-income, rural areas that are more than 10 miles
from a supermarket. Also, white neighborhoods have on average, four times as
many supermarkets as black ones. First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move”
campaign to fight childhood obesity has a goal of eliminating food deserts by
the year 2017. They also provide a link to a food desert locator map.
All of the 11 facts that
DoSomething.org provides come with cited sources. Its main goal was to educate
others about the growing problem of food deserts. It also gives different ways
and opportunities to help towards the cause.
I plan on using this source for its
facts and statistical data. I think it would do well towards the introduction
of my paper as an attention grabber. It would also provide information that the
readers may not know about food deserts.
“A Look
Inside Food Deserts.” CDC.gov. n.p.
24 Sept. 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
This webpage starts off by defining
and explaining what a food desert is. It then goes on to talk about a report in
the July 2009 issue of Preventing Chronic
Disease that suggest that food desert do in fact exist in the United
States. Other studies and research also shows that food desert have been known
to affect one’s health, but further research is needed. They then describe how
one can tell if they live in a food desert and gives steps to improve their
diet such as following the simple food pyramid.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention is the leading public health institute in the United States. In this
webpage, they offer tips towards living in a food desert environment. It also
discusses that there are food desert here in the United States and that it can
affect one’s health which should lead to an increased concern by the public.
I plan to use this source as a
supplement to my other sources because it basically has a little of what all my
other sources has to offer. It provides definitions and explanations,
statistical data, effects on one’s health, and steps to take if one lives in a
food desert environment.
