18Apr
Food is one of the most basic and essential services necessary for any city, but Kansas City has struggled with the prominence of food deserts for years.
They may seem like a temporary or minor convenience, but food deserts can actually be a sign of deeper issues in Kansas City neighborhoods and signal further economic decline ahead.
What Exactly is A Food Desert?
A food desert is an area in which low-income communities to do not have ready access to affordable and healthy food. The impoverished areas lack grocery stores, farmers markets, or other food providers within a close distance that would supply fresh fruits and vegetables. Their residents are typically dependent on public transportation and cannot easily travel to other communities that are not located in a food desert.
Usually, according to the American Nutrition Association, these areas compensate for their lack of fresh food with local quickie marts, which provide processed, fat-laden, and sugary foods that are known contributors to the nation’s obesity epidemic.
Food Deserts in Kansas City
There have been numerous efforts to address Kansas City’s urban food deserts over the past few years, such as grocery co-ops and mobile food markets. The city also spent millions of dollars redeveloping the Linwood Shopping Center that opened up last year and are now funding a new downtown grocery store that’s set to open up in a year.
Despite recent efforts, food deserts are still prominent throughout Kansas City. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Access Research Atlas, there are still numerous food deserts located throughout Kansas City, particularly throughout Eastern, North, and Central regions.
Economic Significance
Food deserts are caused by low population density and a predominance of low-income households- two key factors signaling a growing socio-economic problem. The people living in food deserts are living in unhealthy, poor neighborhoods that become even less wealthy over time.
If a grocery store doesn’t believe the demographic base of a geographic area is good for business-i.e., the residents are poor- they won’t open a store there. This goes for the majority of all businesses, and a food desert is a sign that a neighborhood is on a downward economic trajectory in which no new businesses are opening, and residents are losing access to vital services as well as local job opportunities.
As long as there are still food deserts in Kansas City, impoverished neighborhoods will continue to decline.
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