In the Big Apple🗽, it's sometimes hard to find a fresh apple🍎

New York City is the Big Apple. But hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers may not be able to find a fresh apple in the neighborhood they live.

Many low-income areas within the city, typically predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, lack access to large grocery stores offering fresh, healthy, and affordable food options. As a result, residents often rely on bodegas and small grocery stores, which primarily stock processed foods.

“Coming to the middle of the Bronx I realized that I literally live in a food desert,” said local resident Roxie Martinez. “There's no health food options around me, the supermarkets are full of GMO foods, fruits are huge and not appealing to look at.”

The city officials promised - and had promised for many times - to solve the problem. The Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (“FRESH”) program launched in 2009 aims to open more greengrocers citywide. 30 stores - according to Department of City Planning's latest report - had been added to NYC since then.

However, progress has been slow. Many neighborhoods, including those incentivized under the FRESH program, still lack access to grocery retail chains. This persistent problem is particularly evident in neighborhoods such as Central Bronx and Southeast Brooklyn.

Bringing fresh food to these neighborhoods presents considerable challenges. Many of these food deserts also grapple with high poverty and crime rates. While Whole Foods ventured into central Harlem with its first branch in 2017, this decision, initially viewed as somewhat perplexing, seems more difficult to replicate in the Bronx, as the borough's median income was 37% lower than the citywide average in 2021.

Furthermore, the closure of some retail outlets has exacerbated the situation. In October 2023, Target announced the closure of its East Harlem store, the only branch of the big-box chain in the neighborhood, attributing to the excessive theft losses. This closure has eliminated an affordable shopping option upon which many local residents once relied.

The consequences of living in a food desert extend beyond mere inconvenience; they can lead to serious health issues. With limited access to fresh and nutritious foods, residents are often forced to rely on processed and unhealthy options, contributing to higher rates of diabetes and obesity within these communities.

Furthermore, the closure of some retail outlets has exacerbated the situation. In October 2023, Target announced the closure of its East Harlem store, the only branch of the big-box chain in the neighborhood, attributing to the excessive theft losses. This closure has eliminated an affordable shopping option upon which many local residents once relied.

The consequences of living in a food desert extend beyond mere inconvenience; they can lead to serious health issues. With limited access to fresh and nutritious foods, residents are often forced to rely on processed and unhealthy options, contributing to higher rates of diabetes and obesity within these communities.

Meanwhile, experts suggest alternative solutions. Urban study researcher and community organizer Adi Segal emphasizes the pivotal role of grassroots initiatives in combating food desert challenges, by prioritizing public nutrition education and supporting initiatives such as community gardens and farmers' markets - which has potential to transform these food deserts into thriving, healthy communities.

"Empowering local communities is key to sustainable solutions," Segal stated in his study. “Eventually, the goal is to create a regional food system, which will lower the price of food, improve its quality and reduce our ecological footprint.”

Note:

Selected grocery stores include: Trader Joe's and Aldi, Whole Foods Market, Target, Stop & Shop, Key Food, Morton Williams, Foodtown, Ctown, Westside Market, Union Market, H Mart, Gristedes, Food Baazar and ShopRite. A total of 469 stores were included in the analysis. The data was collected from store locators in February 2024. Please note while fresh food supply is filtered as much as possible during the data collection, the actual situation may vary.

The health data was collected from the 2022 Community Health Profiles by New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Obesity rate is defined as the percentage of adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

You can view the code and all the data used on my Github.