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Food Swamps 
Wed Sep 23, 2009 at 14:46:19 PM PDT
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What do you do if your city has a food swamp, an area with lots of food and none of it healthy? Los Angeles put a moratorium on new fast food joints in one such area, but I like New York's solution better. They are going to provide incentives to draw supermarkets into areas with high rates of diabetes and little fresh food. This measure goes hand in hand with previous efforts like deploying food carts, improving health standards for all meals provided by the city, and encouraging corner stores to sell healthy food.
Now, in a city known more for hot dogs and egg creams than the apple of its nickname, officials want to establish an even bigger beachhead for healthy food - new supermarkets in areas where fresh produce is scarce and where poverty, obesity and diabetes run high.
Under a proposal the City Planning Commission unanimously approved on Wednesday, the city would offer zoning and tax incentives to spur the development of full-service grocery stores that devote a certain amount of space to fresh produce, meats, dairy and other perishables.
The plan - which has broad support among food-policy experts, supermarket executives and City Council members, whose approval is needed - would permit developers to construct larger buildings than existing zoning would ordinarily allow, and give tax abatements and exemptions for approved stores in large swaths of northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn and the South Bronx, as well as downtown Jamaica in Queens.
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Thu Jun 25, 2009 at 22:29:30 PM PDT
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Today the USDA released a report on food deserts. The report was the result of a 1-year study, required by the 2008 farm bill. While those familiar with the term "food desert" know immediately what the report is about - areas of the U.S. where healthy food is unavailable - it's also important to note that the term has garnered some controversy lately. Another term I've heard offered up instead is "food apartheid," to highlight the injustice of the situation. The Washington Post's Jane Black uses another term: food swamp... areas that are totally saturated with fast food, convenience stores, and liquor stores that peddle junk. More on the report's findings below.
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