Living in a food desert can get expensive

Per the USDA’s most recent food access research report, up to 27% of the US population currently lives in “low-income and low-access” census tracts, sometimes known as food deserts. The term refers to a residential area with few or no healthy grocery options—and living in one of these areas is more expensive than you might think, especially for communities that are already left out of the financial conversation.

And, as it turns out, SNAP may not even be a wildly helpful option for folks living in food deserts,  according to a 2020 study from RAND Corporation researchers. “Not all stores are authorized to accept SNAP benefits because SNAP-approved vendors must either stock certain staple food categories or derive more than 50% of their total gross retail sales from the sale of staple food products,” the study authors wrote, adding that SNAP participants “redeem the vast majority of their benefits at supermarkets.” Translation: If your neighborhood doesn’t have a supermarket or comparable food store, it’s tough to redeem those SNAP benefits.

So, what’s a food desert resident to do? They could always hop in their car and pop out to the nearest supermarket—but, as one Northwestern University graduate student found in 2015, that’s not an option for everyone.

The student’s thesis explained that “many residents in food deserts not only struggle with the low availability of nearby healthy food options, but also with the low accessibility to these grocery store locations” thanks to limited personal and public transportation options. So if someone doesn't have ready access to a supermarket, they’re going to have to pay to get there—either in gas costs or public transportation costs. Not to mention the time spent getting to and from the grocery store. Delivery can be an option, but shelling out high delivery fees over and over adds up.