Happy Friday, and welcome back for our second Food Justice Friday. Today, I’m talking about a term you’ve probably heard thrown around in the food activism world: food deserts. Let’s take a look at what they are and what they mean in America. At the end of the post, I’ll even show you how you can find one near you. The results may shock you. Let’s get into it!

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 2.3 million people (or 2.2 percent of all US households) live more than one mile away from a supermarket and do not own a car. 

Why are food deserts problematic?

First, food deserts are a socio-economic issue. Food deserts are most commonly found in low income and black and brown communities. These often go hand in hand. Wealthy neighborhoods have three times as many grocery stores as poor neighborhoods. White neighborhoods have four times as many grocery stores as predominantly black neighborhoods.

Food deserts are an urban problem. Often, lower income families do not have access to cars or reliable transportation. In highly populated urban areas, grocery stores may be so sparse that one shopping trip may require you to take several buses or trains. Lack of supermarkets causes families to rely on corner stores or other convenient options for food. Urban residents who purchase groceries at small neighborhood stores are at the mercy of the store owners, and pay between 3 and 37 percent more than people shopping at suburban supermarkets.

On the other hand, food desserts are a rural problem, too. An estimated 20% of rural areas in the U.S. are food deserts. In rural areas, public transportation is either very limited or nonexistent. Big box stores come into rural areas, which drive out local grocery stores, thus eliminating residents’ choices and the overall number of stores. People living in food deserts tend to be older, have more health conditions, and have lower incomes than those living in urban food deserts.

Once again, because food deserts limit individuals’ access to fresh food, this creates a health problem. You’ll hear me repeat this very frequently, so get used to it.

People eat what they can access. Choices are limited by what is available and affordable. Processed foods offered at fast food chains, delis and corner stores are high in fat, sodium and sugar. Additionally, people living in food deserts are less likely to have access to quality healthcare.

Improving food systems in America’s food deserts ensures everyone lives a healthier life, in both rural and urban communities.

Interactive Food Desert Map from the USDA

Did you know the USDA offers a map that you can use to locate food deserts across the country? The interactive Food Access Research Atlas is linked below:

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas.aspx#.UUDARFtASgQ

The green spots are all the places that fit the traditional definition of food deserts: urban census tracts where a significant proportion of people live more than a mile away from a grocery store and rural tracts where they live more than 10 miles away. The yellow spots are low-income areas where a significant proportion of people don’t have access to cars or live 20 miles away from the supermarket.

Give it a try! I was surprised to find that I live in a green spot, which goes to show you that food deserts are more common than you may think.

Thanks for joining me on this week’s very important topic, and be sure to check out the recommended readings below.

Recommended Readings

Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty

https://amzn.to/3aoC05H

The Grocery Gap: Who has Access to Healthy Food and Why it Matters – Free PDF

The summer season has drawn to a close. The air is crisper, the days are shorter, and the leaves are gearing up for their brilliant display here in East Tennessee. Autumn is a wonderful reminder to all of us that it is a good thing to welcome a little change into our lives.

This time of year in the community garden realm, we typically see what I have heard called the “September blues” – our crops are tired out, and so are the gardeners. Once past the height of harvest season, interest in the gardens tends to slow down to a trickle, and gardeners’ participation in the effort is almost directly proportional to the plants’. Typically, John and I would fall into this category, as we had always seen gardening as an exclusive Spring and Summer activity. But this year we had decided to switch things up. Since the garden had been so successful this summer, we thought, “Why not try to continue it for the fall?”

When you look at the reasons for why you should do a fall garden, it really just makes sense. Extending the garden season increases your annual harvest yield. The cooler weather means you will have to water less often. Additionally, there are fewer pests in cooler weather, although I currently have some cabbage worms eating my collards as I type this.

For the new season, we wanted to switch up where we sourced our seeds and seedlings. Since growing your own food is all about reducing the journey your food takes from seed to plate, I looked for a seed company that not only offered varieties that I was interested in growing but also was located a little closer to East Tennessee.

We are exciting to get growing with Hoss Tools (hosstools.com)
Hoss Tools is located in South Georgia, a mere six hours from us.

We are growing the following varieties from seed from Hoss:
Collards – Top Bunch
Kohlrabi – Purple Vienna
Peas – Oregon Sugar Pod
Radish – Cherry Belle
Beet – Early Wonder

Aside from seeds, Hoss offers some handy garden tools, including cutting edge wheel hoes, as well as a serious YouTube channel that you should check out!

For our seedlings, we shopped even closer and supported Beardsley Community Farm (http://www.beardsleyfarm.org), a community farm on the former grounds of Knoxville College Farm, that offers opportunities for learners and gardeners of all ages and levels of experience. Beardsley is doing meaningful work in the Knoxville area. They grow over 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables and donate over 10,000 pounds of produce every year.

We purchased the following seedlings at their fall plant sale:

Kale – Red Russian
Rapini
Cauliflower
Cabbage – Napa

Finally, we are growing the final veggies from seeds we had left in our seed stash:

Broccoli – Romanesco
Peas – Organic Shelling

We just got our seedlings in the ground this week, and our seeds (with the exception of the beets, radishes and some more kohlrabi) have been in the ground for the last several. We’ve even had our first two collard harvests! We can’t wait to share with you our first ever fall garden. Thanks for joining us on this journey together, and happy Autumn!

Happiness is a homegrown tomato.

Today I’m sharing our favorite varieties of heirloom tomatoes that we’ve grown this garden season. You’ll see these babies sprinkled all over the blog, so I thought I’d give them the proper introduction.

Before I get into it, let’s take a look at what heirlooms are and what makes them special.

I grow heirlooms primarily for their superior flavor. Hybrid varieties are genetically engineered to produce a predictable product over a wide-range of growing conditions. Growers favor hybrids because of reliable qualities such as size, ship-ability, shelf-life and appearance over flavor. Disease resistance can be engineered into a hybrid crop, but it sometimes sacrifices general quality.

My husband John calls me a “tomato snob” because I simply will not consume your average run-of-the-mill tomato from the grocery store. After growing our own tomatoes for four years, I just can’t! Nothing beats the superior flavor of a tomato you’ve grown yourself. So, without further ado, let’s introduce what we’ve got in the works this season.

Next, we have the Golden Jubilee tomato, known for its recognizable brilliant goldenrod color. This indeterminate (pole) variety dates from the 1940’s and boasts a very mild and low-acid flavor. I love that Golden Jubilee tomatoes have a smaller seed cavity, resulting in a meatier tomato. The fruits average approximately 6-7 ounces, although some of ours have gotten up to 14 ounces! This is our second year growing this variety.

Third, we have the Sweetie cherry tomatoes. I couldn’t resist getting this indeterminate variety simply because of its cute name! These cherry tomatoes get up to one inch in diameter and are known for their high sugar content. This season, our Sweetie tomatoes have gotten over eight feet tall! We enjoy these cherry tomatoes on salads, sun-dried, and of course, straight off the vine.

There you have it! Obviously, there are many more heirloom tomato varieties out there, and I encourage you to get adventurous and try as many as you can. Below are some of my favorite websites where you can purchase your own heirloom seeds:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds – https://www.rareseeds.com/
Botanical Interests – https://www.botanicalinterests.com/
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange – https://www.southernexposure.com/

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