When working and researching in the field of food and land justice, I often hear terminology that people use that is misappropriated or is out of date. Not everyone has the time, energy, or experience to stay on top of the correct nomenclature or name(s) as they evolve in a particular field of study and policy. This blog is not meant to substitute the history of why this evolution happens, yet is to give the reader a basic understanding of what to use and what not use when discussing food issues.
Food Desert: Income + Distance: 30% + of population has income below 200% of poverty level and more than 1/2 mile from nearest grocery store; Some cities vary and have the Income + Distance: 20% + of population has income below 180% of poverty level and more than 1/4 mile from nearest grocery store.
Food deserts is an outdated term and now is called Healthy Food Priority Areas. This is due to food deserts not being naturally occurring and that the terminology does not adequately define access to healthy food and the systemic and political undercurrent of why access is not available. In other words, while one may be within the appropriate distance to getting food, the USDA’s understanding is that a corner stores that sell processed foods and liquor are the same as an HEB or fully functioning grocery store. Therefore, between the understanding of what kind of food is sold, the availablilty of transportation, and the structure in place that creates the lack of access (or overassess of unhealthy foods) are a few measures that define a more accurate term than food desert.
Food Security: Exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient , safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. (Coined in the 1970s)
Food Sovereignty: Right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems….It puts the aspirations, needs and livelihoods of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of the food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. (La Via Campesino, 1990s)
The back and forth between food security and food sovereignty would take a whole book to encompass. However, the vision is to understand all the intricacies and dynamics of power, political, and social and oppressive structures that go into the whole.
Food Apartheid: Looks at the whole system in account to race, economics, faith, and geography (social construct) when people are affected disproportionately from access to nutritious food. (Karen Washington)
Food Mirage: Areas where grocery stores are plentiful, but prices are beyond the means of the households near them.
Agrihoods: Working farm connected to residents, the local community outside the neighborhood, and the larger region and foodshed. (Evolving definition)
Food Swamp: Describes an area where there may be a plentiful access to food, however it is primarily cheap, commodity foods that are highly processed and contain unhealthy fats in which they display a predatory practice of fast food saturation upon people of color and in low income neighborhoods. (Nies, 2018)
As stated earlier, these are a few general terms used in the field of land and food justice. My hope is that in time people will dive further into the these terms and see why and how they came to be and changed over time to accurately represent the realities of international and domestic food policy, systemic structures, neo-liberal economic forces, etc., and how improving the overall food environment of an area takes a much broader scope/effort to solve. More terms to come in future blogs.