Food Justice in California: Part 1 - What is a “Food Swamp”?
All throughout California (and other areas of the United States), there are communities in which liquor stores and fast food restaurants outnumber grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and other sources of nutritionally dense food.
Food policy researchers have classified these types of areas - where unhealthy food options vastly outnumber healthy choices - as food swamps. In an actual swamp, plants can survive, but they have limited access to sunlight, soil and other nutrients to help them properly grow; the term food swamp is supposed to highlight the overabundance of low-quality food items in these areas.
This term differs from that of a food desert - which is supposed to imply a lack of any food resources or retailers at all.
In a food swamp, community members may have a wide range of food retailers to choose from, but these retailers often disproportionately provide snack and junk foods instead of healthy options. Oversized sugary soft drinks, chips, candies, and fried foods are abundant in these areas, but options for fresh produce are either limited or non-existent.
As a result, those who live in these communities often face significant health risks.
(source)
Recent studies into the topic of health and food swamps have revealed that simply living in or near a ‘food swamp’ can significantly increase the risk for obesity, stroke, and other related issues. It’s also worth noting that particular community members, such as those over age 50, may be even more susceptible to these negative effects.
Even when healthier options are introduced into these neighborhoods, some research suggests that the eating habits that one develops from living in a food swamp may be difficult to break.
A 2016 government initiative in East Los Angeles, California attempted to renovate a select few corner stores by providing these establishments with the resources to procure, sell, store, and promote more culturally relevant fruits and vegetables within their stores.
However, even with the new fruits and vegetables on front-facing shelves, the study did not note any significant change in customers’ eating/purchasing habits.
These findings may highlight the fact that living in a food swamp can be actively detrimental to community members both in the short and long term - by affecting both their physical health and potentially their future behavior.
In many ways, food swamps exist at the intersection of several other oppressive and wasteful American systems - like zoning laws, food production, and a general disparity in resources between affluent and lower-income neighborhoods.
For example: Fresno, California, a town located in California’s Central Valley region, has a higher concentration of liquor stores per 10,000 residents than anywhere else in the state. A majority of these stores are concentrated in Fresno’s most underserved and rural communities, as zoning restrictions may be looser in these areas, allowing such businesses to quickly set up shop.
Concentration of liquor/corner stores in Fresno is highest in the southern part of town, away from the higher income neighborhoods. (Source)
These stores likely cover the range of dozens of food swamps across Fresno, illustrating the fact that city and state regulations (or lack thereof) can have a tremendous impact on the overall health and level of food access in a given area.
Despite being within one of the most agriculturally productive regions in the country, Fresno also has some of the highest rates of childhood food insecurity in the nation - nearly 30% of children in Fresno are food insecure.
When liquor and fast food retailers are able to easily (and frequently) establish businesses in under-resourced communities, the people living within those communities then have a limited ability to live healthy lives. Adding one of these stores to a neighborhood adds just one more unhealthy choice - and takes up space for what could have been a healthier one.
Luckily, some state initiatives, like SB1383, might help to re-circulate nutrient dense food back into some of these neighborhoods. In places like Fresno, there are also local initiatives that are attempting to more closely regulate where liquor stores can be built and how they obtain their alcohol licenses.
Addressing the overall health equity of those living in or near food swamps requires a holistic, concentrated effort on the part of state and city governments.
Fresh, nutritious food options should be readily available for all members of a given community. However, access to health-related educational resources is equally as important - community members should feel empowered to make healthier choices not only because they have access to them, but also because they understand the impact that these choices have on their overall health and well being.
You can read the full results of the 2016 food swamp study here.
Did you know that food recovery is now law in California? Learn more here!