Note: The Massachusetts Public Health Association released a map depicting the state’s “grocery gap,” or areas with both lower incomes and a lack of fully stocked and accessible grocery stores. Image from CommonWealth Magazine.
As seen in the map, the state of Massachusetts is one of the territories most affected by food deserts. This shows that is not a city issue but a world issue.
The Massachusetts Public Health Association conducted a study where they found that limited access to supermarkets extends across wide areas in this prosperous state, stating that this situation encompasses 40% of the entire Massachusetts population, including 700,000 children and 523,000 elderly.
Note: This map of Boston shows where West Roxbury and East Boston are located. These two areas of Boston that are officially classified as food deserts. Image from Wikipedia.
The impact of the food desert problem in Boston is quite profound. It is not at all difficult to find a McDonald's, Burger King, or other fast-food chains in this city. But find a store nearby that supplies fresh, nutritional food? Difficult access to fresh food can be claimed more than a mile away from the nearest grocery store.
Danielle, a resident who lives in Roslindale, says that finding good fruits and vegetables in her neighborhood is a challenge. She has to walk about two miles to get to her closest supermarket. However, this is not the main problem. Rather, Danielle often can't find fresh, healthy food at an affordable prices to feed her or her family.
It can also be reflected that the problem of the food desert in this city that they are in socially disadvantaged areas where low-income communities live. Likewise, the scarcity of shops in this area conditions the diet of its inhabitants, causing malnutrition and therefore the development of diseases derived from the expensive and scarce supply of healthy foods.
To explain the above, we have West Roxbury and East Boston. Two neighborhoods that are officially classified as a food desert. However, if we compare one of these neighborhoods, West Roxbury, with other high-income areas like Back Bay. It can be seen that the problem impacts the residents of Roxbury the most, even though these two areas do not have significant differences in assets. Mainly because the supermarkets in this disadvantaged neighborhood offer a limited amount of food, not fresh or nutritious.
Despite the existing situation, have you seen actions carried by the government to improve the food desert in Boston? Definitely, not. The Massachusetts government has not incorporated plans to improve this situation in the state plans, which is intended to improve the quality of life for its residents. This plan is called Imagine the Boston 2030 Plan.
Although the plan acknowledges the situation in the city, it has not addressed interventions to improve the food retail environment to make healthier food more accessible among underserved populations. In which it is able to help individuals and families not only to improve their living conditions but also to improve their diet and lead to the prevention or reduction of chronic diseases. Other states, unlike this one mentioned, have created financing mechanisms to build large grocery stores and renovate or expand smaller ones.
According to the Boston Globe, “In 2014, the Legislature agreed to try that approach: It established the Massachusetts Food Trust Program but did not initially provide the money needed to start it. And in 2016, the Legislature got the ball rolling by authorizing up to $6 million in capital spending and $100,000 for operations. But it’s still not a done deal. The program will begin only if Governor Charlie Baker includes it in his capital budget.”
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Despite this situation, there are different organizations in Boston to improve nutrition in disadvantaged populations, such as “Food for Free.” An organization that focuses on "closing the gap between waste and need," since 1981. Its purpose is to improve access to healthy food for underserved communities, rescuing food from supermarkets, universities, farms, and other sources to create new distribution channels to this disadvantaged population.