Potential Socioeconomic Factors Contributing to the Accessibility and Availability of Food Establishments in North Carolina

摘要

This research paper is a study of food deserts in North Carolina, which have limiting accessibility and availability of healthier foods in low income communities. Throughout North Carolina, there are many urban and rural areas where the amount of adequate nutritional foods is difficult to buy. Grocery stores have left low-income neighborhoods to the suburbs. Throughout the years, low-income communities have suffered drastically with the lack of accessibility of fresh foods. A Food Desert is considered an area where there is a lack of acceptable access to healthier food sources. Food deserts are usually found in impoverished, urban, and rural areas making it difficult for people to eat healthier foods. In these low-income communities, they have fast food restaurants, liquor stores, and stores that sale unhealthy foods. Many people living in low income communities don't have access to healthier foods choices in their communities. People that live in these communities don't have reliable transportation or have lack of transportation to grocery stores that sale fresh vegetables. They must travel many miles to access healthier foods. In the inner-city communities, people live one mile from the grocery stores. In the rural communities, people live more than ten miles from the grocery stores. Without access to grocery stores that sale fresh foods, this will lead to high blood pressure, obesity, and other diseases. Without healthier foods, people living in low-income and rural areas will continue to overweight and stricken with many other diseases.