Food deserts are spread throughout the baltimore region
By Mary-Ellen Davis, Brianna Stranieri, and Brittney Everett
Click on any grocery store icon to see where they are located, distance, and commute times for car, public transit, walking, or biking.
Blue circle with a star = center point of each zip code.
Blue circle with a star = center point of each zip code.
Rapidly falling snow, blistering winds hitting your face and a two-mile walk remaining. All of this while carrying 20 pounds of groceries and attempting to avoid the ice-coated sidewalks that line the streets of Baltimore. No matter the season or the weather, making this commute multiple times a week was a bother for former Baltimore City resident Laura Panneton.
“The commute to get to any sort of grocery store if you didn't have a car was actually rather difficult,” Panneton said. “It would be a minimum of a 25- to 30-minute walk to anywhere with some sort of produce department.”
“The commute to get to any sort of grocery store if you didn't have a car was actually rather difficult,” Panneton said. “It would be a minimum of a 25- to 30-minute walk to anywhere with some sort of produce department.”
A food desert, according to Towson University professor Nikita Laws, is defined as an area that lacks access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Laws, who teaches family studies and community development, said that living in a food desert can have an adverse impact on the health of those living in the area.
“When [people] don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, it affects people having healthy options,” Laws said. “So obesity, high blood pressure, things like that. They’re eating not nutritional foods, or they don’t have the resources for what’s available in their area, so that’s where it has a different type of systemic impact.”
“When [people] don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, it affects people having healthy options,” Laws said. “So obesity, high blood pressure, things like that. They’re eating not nutritional foods, or they don’t have the resources for what’s available in their area, so that’s where it has a different type of systemic impact.”
Finding 1: Baltimore City and Baltimore County have almost the same percentage of food deserts.
Both Baltimore County and Baltimore City have almost the same percentage of zip codes that are considered food deserts. In Baltimore County, 64.29 percent are food deserts. In Baltimore City it's 64.58 percent. The definition of a food desert is different for urban and suburban areas compared to rural. In rural areas, it is considered a food desert if some or all of the population is 10 miles or more from a grocery store. In urban and suburban areas the definition is being located a mile or more from a food desert.
finding 2: food deserts are more common in urban/suburban areas
While comparing food deserts in rural Maryland versus urban and suburban Maryland, there is a large difference in the percentages. In rural Maryland 11.90 percent of zip codes are food deserts, while in urban/suburban areas it's 52.38 percent.
Even for Panneton, who was 21 years old when living in Baltimore,, the commute was exhausting. Between taking classes and working, finding time in the day to dedicate to a grocery store trip was a challenge, often resulting in settling for the corner store down the block. Panneton would have to set aside about two hours every time she wanted to go grocery shopping, spending most of her time commuting to and from rather than gathering groceries.
Even for Panneton, who was 21 years old when living in Baltimore,, the commute was exhausting. Between taking classes and working, finding time in the day to dedicate to a grocery store trip was a challenge, often resulting in settling for the corner store down the block. Panneton would have to set aside about two hours every time she wanted to go grocery shopping, spending most of her time commuting to and from rather than gathering groceries.
finding 3: baltimore-area grocery stores serve varying communities
Zip codes in which Whole Foods is the nearest grocery store tend to be close to the store -- the average travel distance equaling 0.99 miles. Wegmans has the longest average travel distance of 8.5 miles. As shown on the map, one Wegmans store location serves as the closest grocery store to multiple rural counties. This increases the average of the travel distance to the grocery store given that Wegmans serves a broad geographic area.
According to the Baltimore City 2018 Food Environment Brief, more than 30 percent of households that are in a food desert do not have a vehicle available, and the distance to a supermarket averages upwards of a quarter mile. It also reported that different groups of people are affected in disproportionate rates. About 31 percent of black residents live in a food desert compared to 8.9 percent of white residents.
Laws believes that bringing healthy options to the community is one way to push back against food deserts. Things like farmers markets and food delivery services like Giant’s Peapod can be a big help.
“Even having someone bring those options to the community whether it be through a food truck that sells fresh fruits and vegetables to the community… having farmers markets in the community can help with that,” said Laws.
Laws did acknowledge that delivery services may not work for people who do not have the resources to pay for food delivery services, but said that it is one way of bringing healthy options to communities without them.
According to the Baltimore City 2018 Food Environment Brief, more than 30 percent of households that are in a food desert do not have a vehicle available, and the distance to a supermarket averages upwards of a quarter mile. It also reported that different groups of people are affected in disproportionate rates. About 31 percent of black residents live in a food desert compared to 8.9 percent of white residents.
Laws believes that bringing healthy options to the community is one way to push back against food deserts. Things like farmers markets and food delivery services like Giant’s Peapod can be a big help.
“Even having someone bring those options to the community whether it be through a food truck that sells fresh fruits and vegetables to the community… having farmers markets in the community can help with that,” said Laws.
Laws did acknowledge that delivery services may not work for people who do not have the resources to pay for food delivery services, but said that it is one way of bringing healthy options to communities without them.
Baltimore has a lot of corner stores for residents to pick up basic goods, but these stores lack a produce department. Not only do food desert areas limit where one can travel, they also limit the types of food which can be purchased as corner stores do not have substantial room and necessary refrigeration to carry most healthy food options. Panneton says if shoppers are lucky, these stores maybe carry some apples and bananas.
In the city there are about 525 independently owned small grocery and corner stores, the 2018 report showed. While they may vary in what they stock, they often do not carry enough healthy options to get an area out of a food desert. The 183 Convenience stores in the city are also of little help, as the stocking decisions are made by corporations, and as such do not carry healthy options.
In the city there are about 525 independently owned small grocery and corner stores, the 2018 report showed. While they may vary in what they stock, they often do not carry enough healthy options to get an area out of a food desert. The 183 Convenience stores in the city are also of little help, as the stocking decisions are made by corporations, and as such do not carry healthy options.
Finding 4: numerous grocery stores serve baltimore city
The most available grocery stores from the heart of Baltimore City are Weis Market, Trader Joe’s, and two different Harris Teeter stores. The Weis Market is 11.6 miles from the center of the 21226 zip code. Trader Joe’s is 5.6 miles from the 21208 zip code. The zip code of 21222 is 4.7 miles from Harris Teeter and the 21252 zip code is 4.5 miles.
finding 5: one wegmans serves multiple rural zip codes
In Baltimore County, Wegmans, located at 122 Shawan Rd, Cockeysville, Maryland, serves as the most convenient grocery store to multiple zip codes. For the Maryland line, zip code being 20155, that it is 18.2 miles away. It is 17.8 miles away from Freeland, 21053. And Parkton, 21120, is 11.5 miles away. All of these zip codes are considered food deserts.
WHAT STORE OPTIONS DO YOU HAVE?
Sarah Buzogany, a food resilience planner for Baltimore’s Office of Sustainability, said food deserts are often a sign of larger structural issues in a region.
“Lack of access to healthy food and Healthy Food Priority Areas are symptoms of issues like poverty caused by long-term disinvestment, structural racism, and the industrialization and corporatization of the food system,” Buzogany said.
The Baltimore Food Policy Initiative works to combat some of these issues by using intergovernmental collaboration between the Department of Planning, Office of Sustainability, Baltimore City Health Department and the Baltimore Development Corporation to increase access to healthy and affordable foods.
By incorporating food programs into various plans and policies, as well as creating community-based food access programing, the initiative pushes back against food deserts.
“It affected what I was eating,” Panneton said when describing her limited grocery store options. “I was eating less produce or stretching it out for longer. I also switched to frozen vegetables, something I could actually keep in the freezer for a while that wouldn't go bad. I changed how I was thinking about eating and I found I started getting more boxed, shelved, and processed food.”
After graduating from college, Panneton moved out of the city to her parents house in Jacksonville, Md. located in the rural part of Baltimore County. Panneton discovered that food deserts are not only apparent in cities.
“When I think of a food desert, cities pop into my mind,” Panneton said. “But I also realize that people who live in rural communities also have a problem.”