Even if you type "food desert" into google images, half of the pictures that come up are of a delicious-looking baked goods. EVIDENCE
My Point: The concept of a food deserts and its nutritional and health implications is still relatively unknown, and the general population's awareness is low.
Lately, there have been a slowly but gradually increasing amount of media coverage on food deserts in Canada, but from my experience over the past few weeks, it seems as though the US is making far greater strides in terms of raising awareness and making change. In terms of research on Canadian cities, I only came across 4 different studies, conducted in Toronto, London, Montreal and Kingston. In comparison to the USDA food desert locator, this is pretty weak indeed Canada.
As I've repeated many times on this blog, this issue is very multi-faceted. Where do we start making change? Is it on the individual, community, provincial or Federal level where the biggest impact can be made?
What we do know is that obesity is on the rise, and changes need to be made. In my opinion, to help combat the issue, it will require multiple levels of government, as well as community co-operation and awareness. Small scale initiatives such as the "Garden Fresh Box Program" and the "Mogro" mobile grocery (both of which I've previously discussed) are great steps in the right direction. However, I think we need to implement much larger initiatives as well, such as what is being implemented now in the US, in regards to their online food desert locator. This way we have a baseline for us to make change via community planning and future research.
I've learned a lot in the process of writing this blog, and I hope that with increased awareness, we can start to make positive changes towards ensuring that there is healthy and affordable food available to Canadians.
Thanks for reading,
Karoline
Your blog has actually raised a lot of questions for me. First, I admit to never having thought of "food deserts" before. So my questions - just off the top of my head - are:
ReplyDeleteWhat is desirable food? What's accessible mean? Is it only distance? Is it the time to prepare it? is it the skill to prepare it? Is it a lack of storage and preparation facilities? Does food have to be solitary (i.e. a nuclear family unit) past-time? How do we make food a healthy community pasttime? Can cities donate vacant land for people to grow their own food? (Believe me, fresh picked out of a garden is the absolute sweetest tastiest ever.) Can churches/community halls/school/whatever do weekly cook-ups where community residents cook stews/soups/sauces/perogies while learning, joking, cooking, eating and then eventually taking their labours comments.
posted by Ruby Van Bendegem
Food deserts are a problem in many Northern communities. In these communities, it would be difficult to eat healthfully if one is only relying on marketed foodstuffs, that are limited due to transportation and spoilage costs. The erosion of traditional cultural cuisine, resulting from mass marketing and corporate/government assimilation, have greatly encouraged food deserts.
ReplyDeleteMiranda Terry
amazing post about Food Deserts
ReplyDeleteDisposable Plates