Using data on what food/grocery chains are open in certain council districts, we wanted to see if there was a discrepancy of locations for fresh food in council districts based on socio-economic or income status. In Disparities in access to fresh produce in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles, authors Dr. Algert, Aditya Agruwal, and Dr.Lewis discuss the discrepancies of access to food based on income and neighborhood. In lower income neighborhoods, access to fresh groceries typically is not in “walking distance of a store with a variety of produce.” This is what creates the condition of a “food desert.” the USDA defines a food dessert as “Limited access to supermarkets, supercenters, grocery stores, or other sources of healthy and affordable food may make it harder for some Americans to eat a healthy diet.” We believe lack of access to fresh foods to support a healthy diet is a part of the condition of life quality. The USDA also goes on to define 3 main aspects, accessibility, individual, and neighborhood, it states:
- Accessibility to sources of healthy food, as measured by distance to a store or by the number of stores in an area.
- Individual-level resources that may affect accessibility, such as family income or vehicle availability.
- Neighborhood-level indicators of resources, such as the average income of the neighborhood and the availability of public transportation (USDA).