Editor's note: This is a response to the article published Jan. 29 entitled "UB professors dismiss 'Food Desert' title." Spectrum Asst. News Editor Rachel Raimondi wrote the story, did the reporting and acquired the quotes referenced in this Letter to the Editor.
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Within segregated inner cities, many individuals rely on high-calorie, low-nutrition snacks and processed foods as quick, convenient meals on a regular basis. Cheetos, Hot Pockets and fast foods are all nutritionally expensive as well as ultimately taxing on the wallet, overall health and local economy. These types of foods cause malnutrition through providing too many empty calories (over-nutrition) and too little nutrients (under-nutrition).
No one likes labels. It can be quite difficult as a researcher to define a region as a "food desert." What is a food desert anyway? Well a number of definitions have been utilized throughout the research literature. A useful definition of a food desert is the definition supplied by Steven Cummins and Sally Macintyre: "poor urban areas where residents cannot buy affordable, healthy food" (2002). Defining a region as a "food desert" highlights social as well as spatial inequalities. So where does Buffalo, N.Y., fit in all of this? Inner-city Buffalo, N.Y., is an unfortunate case. In 2009 Buffalo, N.Y., was dubbed the third-poorest city in America. Then, there is unfortunate fact that, according to the 2010 Census, Buffalo is also the sixth-most racially segregated city in the United States. Let us take a quick look at the grocery stores listed in the 14215 zip code on the East Side of Buffalo. You will find one actual grocery store (Tops), one gas station, four Family Dollars, one Dollar General and 18 corner stores. Yes. Eighteen corner stores. This means the inner-city residents of this zip code who are of the underclass are more likely to grab lower-quality and processed foods from these corner stores at prices comparable to supermarket prices, but the quality is significantly lower at these bodegas (Block and Kouba, 2006). People tend to make food choices based on what is available in their immediate neighborhood. When one discusses food deserts a myriad of perspectives must be taken into consideration. Food deserts involve factors such as income, mobility, residential segregation, neighborhood deprivation, space, place, sociopolitical processes, political economy, as well as factors of socio-economic status. The subject of food deserts requires an interdisciplinary perspective and analysis.
"I don't like the term 'Food Desert,'" stated Samina Raja, associate professor of urban and regional planning. "It implies that something is broken or missing from the system. In Buffalo, this is not the case. There are many successful local farms and consumers who want and need healthy food. However, there is a gap in the system."
While the term "food desert" is not preferred by some it does have a purpose. It can hopefully get people talking and possibly thinking about these deprived regions and underserved populations. No matter how much we may dislike the term, the reality of inner city Buffalo, N.Y., as a food desert will not simply go away. This is not simply about the "food system." It is also about the residents - the people. We must also take into consideration that there is a large numbers of individuals who have limited access to nutritious foods, are of low socio-economic status and are suffering from health inequalities directly and indirectly tied to the lack or limited supply of nutritious, fresh foods versus processed foods in their immediate neighborhood area. Unfortunately, the health inequalities and disparities that can be seen in some urban areas are proof that the system is broken. There is something missing here: more viable and affordable options for fresh foods in inner-city neighborhoods. The underclass and poor individuals within the inner city are not simply undercutting the farmer and local economy when they end up doing some of their grocery shopping at a Family Dollar or a corner store down the street. It is way more complicated than that. It is expensive to be poor; the poor and underclass spend more and get less. When the inner-city residents spend their money at a fast food restaurant or a local convenience store, they are spending a large amount of money because the food isn't nourishing, and the costs adds up. Under-nutrition and over-nutrition as parts of malnutrition are components in the construction of food insecurity. "Food insecurity, defined as a lack of adequate quantities of safe foods to meet nutritional requirements at some time during the year, is increasingly recognized as an environmental link between hunger, lack of adequate food resources, patient behaviors, including compliance, and disease risk. Food insecurity is pronounced in both rural and urban communities..." (Mobley et al 2009:3). While some may not want to call Buffalo, N.Y., a food desert, Inner-city Buffalo, N.Y., residents are living, experiencing and navigating the constraints of food insecurity partly caused by the food deserts within the city.
"By undercutting the local farmer, consumers are taking away a dollar from the local economy and then, in turn, are making sure their own wages never rise because Buffalo sinks together as a whole," stated Raja. The immediate and proximate concern of the underclass and the poor living in the inner city is survival, paycheck to paycheck. Get the food and necessities that you can with the budget you have and keep a roof over the heads of your family members. This population does not have the luxury of thinking about how their search for cheap groceries undercuts a local farmer. While they need to be thinking about these processes within the local economy, they might not consider it.
So while we all must be careful about what labels we attach to different cities, we must also take the people into consideration. Inner-city Buffalo, N.Y., is a food desert. Go around and ask the residents and those who grew up in the inner city about their experiences grocery shopping and access to fresh produce and you will see that this is more than semantics or word play. Inner city Buffalo, N.Y., is a poor urban area where residents cannot buy affordable healthy food. And until this socio-political and political economic pathology is addressed, the inner-city residents will continue to suffer under these constraints as those who can do more argue over semantics.
