by Kimberly Burrowes
Farmers’ markets, community gardens, and fruit stands provide local residents access to healthy, affordable food in many neighborhoods. In areas with fewer grocery stores, farmers’ markets can help close the food access gap. But they don’t serve every neighborhood, and today, one in eight Americans experiences food insecurity—and they’re primarily from low-income households and communities of color. Although physical and mental health, family structure, and economic hardship are all associated with food insecurity, housing stability is also a key factor.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Washington, DC, experienced a dramatic decrease in full-service grocery stores. As middle-income families moved out of the city and into the suburbs, so, too, did healthy and affordable food. Neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, which are predominately Black and have some of the highest poverty rates in DC—experienced extensive neighborhood change and went from having more than a dozen options for groceries to only three options today. Farmers’ markets and urban agriculture have been fundamental in filling the gap and enabling residents’ access to fresh and affordable food.
Choosing between housing and food
There is an important connection between housing stability and food access. Families experiencing financial hardship may have little money left for food after paying their rent or mortgage, face eviction or homelessness (having nowhere to safely store or prepare healthy food), or live in disinvested neighborhoods where access to healthy, affordable food is less likely.
Several studies exploring homelessness demonstrate the link between a lack of shelter and the risk of food insecurity. Though cities attempt to address this issue by establishing food pantries, soup kitchens, and other charitable food outlets, the relief is not sufficient or sustainable for the range of families living in unstable conditions.
[For the complete story by HousingMatters.org, visit: https://howhousingmatters.org/...kle-food-insecurity/]
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