Food Deserts in Rural America Expose Need for Broader Distribution Strategies

October 10, 2023 CoBank

Food insecurity remains prevalent in the U.S. with sparsely-populated rural areas often being disproportionally affected. Rural communities comprise 63% of all U.S. counties but 87% of counties with the highest food insecurity rates. The primary challenge for rural residents is the prevalence of low-access food deserts, where the distance to supermarkets impedes the ability of consumers to access a wide range of food and beverage options.

127 Wall and Yellow Banana Partner with the City of Chicago in Tackling Food Deserts

July 21, 2022 Save A Lot

Yellow Banana, the owner and operator of eight Save A Lot locations in the Chicagoland area, today announced the receipt of a $13.5 million Community Development Grant from Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City of Chicago that will enable Yellow Banana to invest in significant upgrades to its existing Chicago stores, as well as to re-open a location in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood that closed in 2020.

Dollar General Announces New Commitments to Address Food Insecurity, Plans to Offer Produce in up to 10,000 Stores

July 6, 2021 Dollar General

The Company plans to offer produce in up to 10,000 communities over the next several years, with a meaningful number of those stores in current United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defined food deserts.

As Rural Groceries Fade Away, Lawmakers Wonder Whether to Act

“When you have a small rural town and the grocery store dies, the town dries up and it just blows away,” said Nancy McCloud, who revived B Street Market in 2017 and became its owner. “There are six towns east of here — they just lost the grocery store, then they lost the gas station, and then they lost the bank and now they’re nothing.”

Federal and VA Officials Seek to Attract Grocery Stores to ‘Food Deserts’

Reflecting national concerns over “food deserts,” federal and state lawmakers on Monday called for legislation to help people in low-income neighborhoods get better access to fresh vegetables and other healthy foods.