Did you know that 54.4 million Americans struggle with getting access to healthy food? Everyday, people struggle with eating healthy due to where they live. Their geography/location is affecting what food they eat and how they get it. Good for them, there are organizations dedicated to helping them. To understand how geography impacts access to healthy foods, we first need to understand why people do not have access to healthy everywhere, the best places to live to have access to healthy foods, and what we can do to solve the issue of food deserts.
Not everybody has access to the healthy foods they need. People are being led to buy cheap, unhealthy food because of costs and the location in which they live. According to the article, “Individual, Household, and Environmental Factors Affecting Food Choices and Access,” “food prices vary across geographic regions of the United States because of differences in the cost of living and other market conditions.” This supports the fact that people are not getting the healthy food they need. And, the cost of living is just one of the many
…show more content…
The people who live in the West and Northeast regions eat healthier. “The nutritional quality of restaurant meals is often less healthful than foods purchased for at-home consumption.” “A recent study in NHANES also found that fruits, vegetables, and whole grain intake were higher in the West and Northeast than in the South and Midwest, which is consistent with higher overall diet quality.” (“Geographic Differences in the Dietary Quality of Food Purchases among Participants in the Nationally Representative FoodsAPS”) People in those regions are eating healthier food and have a better overall diet. That must mean that they have access to those healthy foods and are taking advantage of them. Even though the West and the Northeast have good access to food, other parts of the U.S. are struggling with