I do some volunteer work with a housing project on North Avenue in Baltimore. Cindy (not her real name for the sake of anonymity) works there and was asking about my research. Cindy is a black middle aged born and bred Baltimorian. I started explain what a Food Desert was, and before I even got to defining my 'one mile radius from a grocery store' bit (see the last post for more info), she interrupted me and started agreeing.
"Oh yes, we have plenty of those everywhere. Umm hmm. Yes we do. In fact, I think I live in one."
I asked her where she lived and proceeded to Google it. She explained that Safeway was the closest chain grocery store around her. After inputting that information, I turned to correct her but stopped myself. Her house was within a mile of Safeway, so it did not fit my criteria of being in a Desert. But I knew that Cindy didn't have a car, and Google map showed that there were no MTA routes nearby that could transport her. I asked Cindy how she did her shopping there. "I usually walk or get a friend to drive me. Usually I'm walkin' though."
What normally would have been an easy drive to the grocery store became a .7 mile walk (3696 feet) one way, so a 1.4 mile walk in total (7392 feet). That's a long way to tote your groceries in a bad part of town. Cindy also worked a 9-5 job. She said that during the winter it was too dark and too cold to walk there. Cindy talked more about how it was easier to shop at the corner store, but how it was so pricey and didn't have any fresh food, that this was another problem of distance. Cindy lived within a mile of a store, but because of transportation she didn't have the same access to it.
This also becomes a problem of something known as 'friction of distance.' When something is close to you and does not take too many resources to access it (like time, money, energy), you are more likely to go to that place than somewhere farther way. The farther something is, or the more resources it takes to get there, the less likely you are to go there. For Cindy, getting fresh produce for her family meant a 1.4 mile walk. Not to mention the pulling of a hand cart, carrying bags of food or time of year. Suddenly, the amount of time and energy increase, helping me understand why Cindy would go to the corner store first before she went to Safeway. Cindy and her family's diet is dictated by this lack of access because of transportation, even when fresher food is so close. The friction of distance to getting to the store plays as big a part as proximity - they are both variables in the fight for access.
Something like this instance makes me glad that I practice anthropology. Normally my definition of Food Deserts would have overlooked someone like Cindy's problem. But by talking to locals, getting their input, and doing the long term participant observation that anthropology is known for - her voice and stories like it can be heard and make a difference. Even though my definition of Food Desert hasn't changed, I know that it is only a benchmark term and does not always apply to everything. In the future, when I am trying to define who does and does not live in a Desert, I know that there are more questions to ask than to stick to one definition.
I'd like to thank Cindy for letting me post this and collaborating with me on this post. :)
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