The Challenge
Explore the stark reality of Southern Dallas, where systemic barriers limit access to nutritious food, leaving residents vulnerable. Discover how we’re addressing this injustice in Oak Cliff.
Food Injustice
Anga Sanders prefers the term “food apartheid” to describe the policies and practices that have led to the limited food options south of I-30. Structural boundaries like the bustling highway that separates northern and southern Dallas to large grocery chains continuing to build major stores where they are already plentiful are ignoring the large population south of downtown.
Southern Dallas’ food options are generally limited to dollar stores, convenience stores, gas stations and non-standard grocery stores like Sav-A-Lot and Cash Saver that add a surcharge to their often-subpar and heavily processed food offerings.
These practices have led to Dallas claiming ownership of the unhealthiest zip codes in the entire State of Texas.
What Are Food Deserts?
Food Deserts, as defined by the American Nutrition Association, are parts of the country lacking an adequate supply of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy whole foods, usually in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, healthy food providers, and oftentimes the lack of a car to get to the areas with more grocery selection. To put this into perspective, approximately 23.5 million Americans are currently living in food deserts.
Impact on Health
Simply put, communities that can’t easily access healthy foods tend to eat less healthily than communities that can. The zip codes of Oak Cliff include extremely high incidents of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer. All of these conditions can be caused or impacted by what one eats. AD Magazine article recently noted that men living in 75215 zip code, a food desert, have a 26-year shorter lifespan than those residing in 75204.
Unhealthy eating habits lead to weight gain and obesity – the biggest health concern linked to food deserts. Obesity increases people’s risk for all kinds of health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. These risks are especially important to keep in mind for young, developing children. Our brains and bodies rely on key nutrients to grow, and it has been proven that not getting enough foods rich in iron, vitamin A or iodine leads to cognitive difficulties, weaker immune systems, and stunted growth.
We view this as an injustice and vow to tackle the problem.
