Why are there so many food deserts in America?

Most Americans, and certainly those of us in the grocery business, have grown used to seeing a bounty of food in our local grocery store. Rows of vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and dairy, and a huge variety of innovative CPG products are the norm for us. And when it’s dinnertime, deciding what to make from an endless supply of options is our biggest problem.

Yet for a growing number of Americans in both rural and urban communities, making dinner is a far different experience. It requires a 30-minute car ride or bus trip to the nearest full-service grocery. Or settling for whatever the corner convenience store or dollar store has on the shelf. Or worse, opening a bag of fast food.

That lack of real food access is far bigger than most people realize. According to the most recent figures from the USDA, 1 in 7 Americans live in food deserts, which is defined as a low-income area where a significant portion of residents live more than a mile (in urban areas) or 10 miles (in rural areas) from a supermarket. Worse still, low-income households spent far more of their paychecks on food than high-income households: 32.6% of income for low incomes versus 8.1% for higher incomes.

The reason for our country’s food access problem, in no small part, comes down to a simple business equation: it’s not profitable for big chains to operate in lower income communities.

Big retailers don’t purposefully discriminate against certain kinds of communities. But in the world of modern business — where mathematics rule and short-term profits reign — large grocery chains tend to do what they do best: build large suburban stores that appeal to middle and upper-middle income Americans. They are so efficient that whenever they try to make a smaller urban or rural store, even if they are successful, they close the store down because there is more money to be made in their suburban model.

And that has left millions of Americans with no access to fresh, healthy food. It’s more than an inconvenience — it has a negative impact on the health, opportunity, and economic growth of whole communities and the people in them.

The good news is the problems created by this simple business equation have an equally simple solution: independent grocers. They’re nimble, they see opportunity where big chains see risk, and they’re dedicated to helping where help is needed. But more often than not, they need the capital and support of the communities they serve to make it work.

There’s no better example of that solution in action in the U.S. than Atlanta. What’s happening in Atlanta is revolutionary because the city isn’t just talking about food deserts; it’s actually doing something about them. Led by Mayor Andre Dickens, a passionate advocate for food security, the city has deployed countless measures to achieve the Mayor’s goal that every Atlanta resident is within a half mile of fresh, affordable food by 2030.

Whether it’s strengthening existing independent grocers through technical assistance, offering incentives to open new stores, or testing creative ways to get fresh produce onto family tables, Atlanta is proving what’s possible when a city supports small business solutions in neighborhoods the big chains have long written off as ‘not worth the investment.’

For the past two years, the team at IGA has proudly served as a technical assistance provider for the City of Atlanta’s independent grocers. Week after week, we’ve visited our new Atlanta grocers to deliver support they need, from training and store improvements to operational planning, marketing resources, and supply. With the support of IGA, Invest Atlanta connected 20 independently owned food retailers with technical assistance services. Combined, these businesses, and the entrepreneurs running them, serve over 25,000 visitors per week with Azalea Fresh Market reaching over 4,000 people during their first week of operations. 

Some of those grocers have beautiful stores in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. They may be one of only a handful of food stores in the area, they may be operating on razor thin margins, but they’re making it work. When we visit with them, their key concern is growing their business. Making it bigger and better so they can feed more people.

Then there are others, in far more economically depressed neighborhoods, who operate the only store for miles. They have been doing their best to feed their neighbors —sometimes for generations — without so much as a distribution partner to stock their shelves. They are in the midst of a daily struggle for survival, and the stakes are incredibly high. Not just for their family business, but also for the people they serve whose only other option is fast food.

While working with Atlanta, we’ve had the privilege of watching the city’s independent food retailers hit milestone after milestone, from sprucing up their stores and increasing their fresh food offerings to executing business plans for growth.

On top of that, there are the store openings in food desert areas, including the first food retail store for Goodr; a new Arden’s Garden location serving up fresh prepared fruit and vegetable smoothies, juices, and prepared foods; a new location for the tech-focused grocery Nourish & Bloom; and last week, the opening of Azalea Fresh Market, the city’s first full-service municipal grocery store, owned and operated by a retailer who is a proud member of Independent Grocers Alliance.

Invest Atlanta has invested over $5 million in projects that that will increase access to healthy food and reduce food Insecurity, including a grocery store serving seniors and a healthy neighborhood market serving low-income resident and other projects.

Atlanta is at the forefront of the fight against food insecurity, proving that when collaboration meets innovation, real and lasting change is possible. The city isn’t just solving challenges for its own neighborhoods — it’s setting the standard for communities nationwide. And IGA is proud to be involved in the progress.