NCCO International 
A food desert is defined as a neighborhood or residential area where people have limited access to a variety of nutritious foods – often lower income neighborhoods tucked far away from healthful and affordable food sources.
The most common food deserts in the United States are in densely-populated urban areas where the closest grocery store can be as much as ten miles away – and few residents own a car or can afford grocery delivery services. People are left only with the convenience foods available nearby – typically fast food restaurants and, importantly, convenience stores.
Why Food Deserts are Such a Problem
When there is limited or no physical or economic access to sufficient nutritious foods, like what occurs in a food desert, the result is what is termed food insecurity. Food insecurity in turn leads to rising rates of obesity and diabetes, hunger, and starvation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) estimates that over 17 million U.S. households suffer from food insecurity.
Learn more about food insecurity >
The root cause of the American food desert is problematic as well. Studies have shown there are several social, economic, and political conditions that limit people’s access to healthy foods, led by public policy and economic practices rooted in systemic racism. This includes racial residential segregation, and poor access to transportation among low-income and marginalized populations.
As a result of this, food activists like Malik Yakini prefer the term “food apartheid” to truly address the problem at the root of food insecurity.
Convenience Stores: More Than Just Convenient
A convenience store, also known as a convenience shop, bodega, corner store or corner shop, is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items – often including the food and drink people need to survive.
While convenience stores are often thought of only as places for cigarettes and soda, or something attached to a gas station for a quick snack on the road, they are for many neighborhoods a community and cultural hub, a place to get the day-to-day household items and food for the family. Convenience stores can provide everything from prepared foods – deli items like sandwiches, tacos, gyros, and more are common – as well as prepackaged cereals, canned soups, rice, and fresh produce as well. This has helped fill the gap left by a lack of full-service grocery stores in historically neglected neighborhoods.
For example, convenience stores have become a cornerstone in several of Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods. A study published by Illinois Institute of Technology Assistant Professor of Social Sciences Hao Huang details just how crucial convenience stores are to the overall health of a neighborhood population – especially neighborhoods adversely affected by the racist planning policies of the 20th century.
“Convenience stores are the key food environment influence on [the availability of healthy foods] in household food supplies among limited-resource communities, such as African-American communities in the South Side of Chicago,” says Huang.
“Different from fast food restaurants, convenience stores not only offer mostly prepared, highly processed, high-calorie foods, but also a limited choice of fresh produce. Thus, convenience stores are relatively healthy compared to fast food restaurants. Further, due to the African-American communities’ lack of access to healthy supermarkets and grocery stores in Chicago, convenience stores are a frequent source of food items and might have a greater influence on household food supplies, especially for the minority population.”
In the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, a grocery delivery service called BrightSide Produce has recognized the importance of convenience stores in the food deserts of underserved neighborhoods as well, understanding the importance of these quick-service institutions for whole food options where there are otherwise none. BrightSide has specifically targeted convenience stores to deliver fresh fruits and vegetables at affordable prices for neighborhood residents.
Learn more about BrightSide Produce
Neighborhood convenience stores – which are often run by neighborhood residents who are invested in their communities – are therefore uniquely positioned to address the problem of food deserts and the food insecurity that comes as a result.
NCCO Helps Convenience Stores Better Serve Their Populations
This is where NCCO can help. We work closely with distributors to provide everything convenience stores need to better serve their customers. Supporting staff and ensuring efficiency in a small shop can often make the difference between failure and success, and having the right tools to expand product offerings helps ensure the community is getting everything it needs.
We offer:
Automated Food Labeling System >
Food Safety Labels & Products >
While the food insecurity and health crises that come as a result of food deserts is not a problem that can be solved overnight, working together to address the direst aspects of the issue at trusted corner stores and bodegas can at least ensure that stomachs are full in the meantime.
Learn more about how NCCO helps support convenience stores >