Food Deserts

Fighting Food Deserts After Cyclospora

October 12, 2026 Fallon Brannon, Next City. Create! Food Deserts, Food Safety, health, New Orleans

Candice McFarland used to eat salads every other day. But even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials declared last month that the cyclospora outbreak was over, she still hasn’t eaten lettuce from a grocery store for several months, to avoid potential exposure to the microscopic parasite. “I kind of resorted to eating more unhealthy foods,” McFarland says. She and her husband, Gordon, opened G&C Meat Market last year on North Galvez Street. The meat market is the only Black-owned corner store in the Upper Ninth Ward to offer healthy groceries for residents.

Promoting Well-Being With Healthy Community Stores

April 21, 2026 Susan Kelley, Portside. Create! Food Access, Food Deserts, health, New York (NY)

Jasmine Robbs recently drove across Buffalo during her lunch break just to shop at her favorite store – Buffalo’s Golden Corner on the East Side – because it sells fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthy options. At the store’s entrance, two coolers stock spinach, lemons, avocado, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, yogurt, eggs, dairy products, almond milk and stacks of to-go boxes packed with brilliant raspberries, grapes, pineapple and strawberries. “Every time I spend my food stamps, I am able to cash out on fresh fruits and vegetables, which is imperative,” said Robbs, who says she doesn’t shop anywhere else. “That is my go-to.”

These Urban Farms Are Filling The Gaps The Government Ignores

May 28, 2025 Iulia Lupse, Next City. Create! Food Deserts, Food Security, Urban Design, Urban Gardens

Rodrigo Martinez started working at Bonton Farms in 2018 while recovering from addiction. Now the Facilities Manager, he says the opportunity was more than just a job. “I’ve seen people come through the program, learn trades, develop healthy habits, and move on to better jobs, get their own place, buy their own vehicles — things like that.” His story is proof that urban farming isn’t just about food. It’s about rebuilding lives and sparking real economic opportunity. More than 53 million Americans live in food deserts, far from fresh groceries, according to the USDA. In South Dallas’ Bonton neighborhood, 44.3% of residents fall below the poverty line, triple the national average. With groceries and jobs thin on the ground, residents scrap for the essentials.

Should Cities Open Their Own Grocery Stores?

January 12, 2025 Jule Pattison-Gordon, Governing. Create! Food and Agriculture, Food Deserts, Human Rights, Public ownership

By now, most people are familiar with the concept of food deserts — areas where residents lack ready access to fresh foods. Should local governments step in to operate grocery stores in neighborhoods that don’t have them? Aside from ideological questions over whether governments should get involved with operating retail establishments, there are a number of practical hurdles that are difficult to overcome. Zohran Mamdani, a member of the state Assembly who is running for mayor of New York, calls for a network of city-owned grocery stores.

The Government Spends Millions To Open Grocery Stores In Food Deserts

August 14, 2024 Molly Parker, ProPublica. Create! Food Deserts, Government Subsidies, Grocery Stores, Illinois

Cairo, Ill. — More than 100 people congregated in the parking lot of Rise Community Market on its opening day a little over a year ago. As they listened to celebratory speeches, the audience erupted into joyful exclamations: “Mercy!” “Wonderful!” “Wow!” “All right!” Colorful homemade signs raised by local leaders beckoned the crowd to join in: “We!” “Are!” “No!” “Longer!” “A!” “Food!” “Desert!” For most American cities, the opening of a new grocery store barely warrants a mention. But in Cairo, the government seat of Illinois’ poorest county and the fastest-shrinking one in America, business openings are rare. And for residents who for years had to travel long distances to buy food, it was a magical moment.

How Do You Buy Groceries When There’s No Grocery Store?

October 29, 2023 Kennedy Smith, ILSR.org. Create! Food and Agriculture, Food Deserts, Food Security, Grocery Stores

When a new mobile grocery market launched in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, its first stop was Maple City Apartments, a 40-unit complex for low-income, elderly relatives. Maple City’s residents have felt the region’s lack of grocery stores acutely. The nearest full-service grocery store is at least five miles away,[1] which leaves few options for people who don’t have access to a car or good public transit. But the County’s residents can now buy groceries from a farmers market on wheels. It started when the Cooperage Project, a regional nonprofit organization, wanted to get fresh, healthy food to people during the pandemic, rather than having them settle for the shelf-stable, highly processed options that chain dollar stores offer.

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