Imagine not having access to quality food. If you’re hungry and there is no grocery store near your home, you have no option but to buy the cheaper and quicker alternatives at a fast food restaurant or a convenience store.

This is the reality for over 600,000 people in the city of Chicago, according to Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group. They live in what is known as a “food desert.” 

Disproportionately impacting black families

A food desert is defined as a neighborhood, or a cluster of neighborhoods, without a mainstream grocery store. In a 2006 study, Gallagher identified 44 square miles in Chicago that qualify as a food desert, which includes a large part of the far Southside of Chicago affecting a large percentage of the city's African-American population. About 478,000 blacks live in the Chicago food deserts, compared with about 78,000 whites and 57,000 Latinos, according to the research of Gallagher’s consulting group. 

The study shows that African-Americans must travel the farthest on average to a grocery store. While whites travel an average of 0.39 miles and Latinos an average of 0.36, African Americans travel 0.59 miles to reach a grocery store, but they are much closer in proximity to fast food restaurants than their counterparts. 

A serious health issue

While it may not seem like a huge deal that people have to travel slightly farther to reach a better grocery store, it can be close to impossible for some families. About 64,000 households in food deserts lack access to a car and carrying bags on a public bus or train can be too much of a hassle for the elderly, those with disabilities or children. Over 100,000 of the inhabitants of food deserts are single mothers. Choosing to shop at the corner store is the easiest, fastest and cheapest option for most people living in these areas.

LaDonna Redmond, of Chicago's West Englewood neighborhood, decided to take action when her son was diagnosed with severe food allergies ten years ago. 

"It was pretty difficult. I had to travel around to figure out where to get food,” in addition to figuring out what kind of food to feed him, she said.

She has recently decided to open her own grocery store in her Southside neighborhood to help other people in need. 

Some of the findings in the Gallagher research are eye-opening: 10 out of every 1000 living in a food desert die from cancer compared to less than 7 of people living in neighborhoods with better quality food. Also, 11 out of 1000 people living in food deserts die from cardiovascular disease compared with less than 6 for other neighborhoods. One of the most disturbing aspects of this study is the fact that one-third of Chicago’s food desert inhabitants are children.

Looking for solutions

Despite the bleak outcomes, some people are trying to change food options in these neighborhoods.

“Denial of safe, healthy food in large areas of Chicago's, mostly Southside and Westside, neighborhoods is a manifestation of these maladies, and children in particular suffer the consequences of intentionally depriving people of good food, as their bodies and brains are still in development,” says David Meyers of the Chicory Center.

“Chicory Center participates in the movement to challenge this reality by partnering with organizations with deep Southside roots.” 

Various groups such as God’s Gangs are attempting to halt the spread of food deserts throughout Chicago. God's Gang is a volunteer-run organization that tutors neighborhood kids, curates exhibitions on Black history and teaches about agriculture and food through farming, animal husbandry and urban gardening, according AreaChicago.org. 

Another glimmer of hope: food deserts appear to be shrinking by a small amount. In 2006, 632,974 Chicagoans were living within food deserts. In 2008, 23,940 fewer Chicagoans were living in the deserts, which may be due to efforts to open new grocery stores in the areas. 

Meyers says that the diminishing numbers are a good sign.

Although the improvement is “probably minimal at a practical level at this point,” he said, organizations like Chicory Center are bringing greater awareness to the issue of food deserts and eventually more people will want to take part in helping to solve the problem.