Organic foods are known to be more expensive, yet the healthier choice in food and are chosen as an alternative to farmed and processed foods. Higher costs for production of organic foods make them the healthier choice for many consumers. Yet these foods are only accessible to a minority of people who can afford them and have better access to them in their local markets and adjoining areas. Simultaneously a large population of these remains unprivileged in gaining access to organic foods. With the markets located in limited areas, a large population finds it difficult to reach them on a regular basis. Additionally, there is a lack of awareness about organic foods, and many people believe they are the same as other food products available on the market. Lifestyle and trends also influence the choice of purchasing organic foods as many people are just not inclined into checking the nutrition content of their food and purchase any kind of food because the basic purpose is to eliminate hunger. However, there are several crucial reasons that govern the lack of accessibility to organic foods. These reasons include the zoning and accessibility of organic foods in different areas, which in turn trace the racial and socioeconomic factors determine lack of access and utilization.
There are many regions in the country where there is a great disparity in availability of organic foods. A lack of availability of vendors selling organic food and produce makes organic food inaccessible to millions in the country. This evident gap in availability is a result of ‘Zoning’ where there are certain regions that are not provided the accessibility to these markets. (Treuhaft and Karpyn). The federal government allows the local government to control some area of the land that it deems useful for development and production. This property is owned by private owners who can utilize it for various uses. Ultimately, it restricts land use of several people, mainly the privileged. There are many neighborhoods that lie in isolation from these and the people living in them cannot purchase organic foods because their areas are living in the deprived zones which do not have a market for organic foods. Resultantly organic food cannot be supplied to such areas because of the lack of purchasing power, or that area is just off the market, and it cannot be brought to them. This problem began in the early 60s and 70s when the rich, affluent members of the community shifted to the urban areas of the country and with them, the supermarkets carrying the organic foods fled as well. This created a niche, and they settled there as the main reserves of income and sale. Roughly, about 23.5 million people do not have access to organic foods and supermarkets because of their non-availability in the region. (Treuhaft and Karpyn). For example, in Los Angeles, one can find about 2.3 times the number of supermarkets per every poor home in the country as compared to the higher poverty areas. Even in Washington DC, the people earning the lowest in the city have only one supermarket that caters for over 70,000 people while looking at the richer or highest earning income people have stores for every 11,000th person. Also, the poorer citizens of the city live in neighborhoods without a single supermarket, and this number is for one in five people settled in the poorer neighborhoods. (Dettmann, 7). The same goes to New York City, where there are more supermarkets that sell unhealthy and low-nutrition foods as compared to the supermarkets with organic and high-nutrition foods. (Dettmann, 12). Zoning creates problems to supply organic foods to consumers, yet it can also solve the issue. If the local governments allow farmers to cultivate fruits and vegetables on designated land, then one region can become self-sufficient in production, cutting the cost of produce as well. Zonal management can also cut down fast food chains in an area and clear the land for organic food markets. Accessibility is another dilemma for purchasers. Proximity to markets is problematic for people living further from urban areas. With longer distances to be covered and the areas being isolated from neighborhoods, many people do not wish to cover the distance needed to transport the food because that would mean greater cost associated with transport and fuel. (Dettmann, 4). For that purpose, the organic food would have to be sold at a higher price and hence increased prices would not attract a large buying audience. This would, in turn, lead to a loss of business as the market would not flourish. This makes accessibility a major reason for the lack of access to organic foods. There may be rural buyers who own transport of their own in the form of large trucks, hence they can easily purchase food and have it brought in bulk, but there are many others who cannot trust other people with their personal trucks. The areas of Lexington, Seattle WA, Central and South Los Angeles and some other countries face transport and accessibility issues to organic food. (Treuhaft and Karpyn).
Zoning and accessibility are two phenomena that are related to the disparity in food systems that creates this gap between the accessibility and need because there are preferred neighborhoods, and then there are the neglected ones. Neglected areas are usually those who are the low-income neighborhoods. What makes them low-income is the zone they are present in. It makes them subject to lack of accessibility. There are many big cities in the country that have ‘food deserts’ – places that do not have food stores and fresh food markets and organic food is only available for high-income areas. (Treuhaft and Karpyn).
Accessibility is also related to race and ethnicity. Racial and socioeconomic status is a major barrier to the provision of organic food. Areas are categorized according to the race that inhabits them. Then, the race is directly associated with income, and the racial bias in providing the underprivileged areas with organic foods creates a gap in the food system. For example, in Detroit, a low-income black household will be provided with low quality and low nutritional content in food as compared to a middle to higher-income household of white residents in the same country. Colored communities usually have fewer supermarkets and less purchasing power. Four times the number of supermarkets can be found in white communities as compared to the colored communities. (Neff et al., 282). The race turns out to be a bigger barrier than socioeconomic status when it comes to providing organic food markets. A study conducted to investigate the provision of organic food by 65,000 supermarkets in the country revealed that irrespective of the economic status and the income of individuals, it was the black and Hispanic residents that had the least access to organic food. This might be out of a general thought of considering them superior and making the white race more powerful in terms of utilizing the better produce and at the same time the black citizens, Native Americans, and Hispanics are being left out because they fall into the minority group. Then again, the zones they have access to do not provide them with organic food. (Neff et al., 282). There is also a major conflict when it comes to the education, awareness and knowledge these individuals have as far as consumption of organic foods is concerned. Many of them are unaware of the difference, neither do they inquire why (Neff et al., 282). Therefore, the underlying factors that lead to a lack of accessibility to organic food include zoning, lack of accessibility or transportation issues and racial factors that stand in the way of providing healthy food to every American equal. If the government takes measures to provide land to farmers and help them cultivate organic food for the adjoining, deprived community, then organic food can be accessible to every minority and farthest lying neighborhood in the country.
Works Cited
Dettmann, L. Rachael. Organic Produce; who’s eating it? Economic Research Survey USDA.
2008. pp 2-14. Web. 19 Jan 2016.
Neff, A. Roni. Et al., Food systems and public health disparities. NCBI. 2009. pp 282-314. Web.
Treuhaft, Sarah, Karpyn, Allison. The Grocery Gap: Who has access to healthy food and why it
matters. The Food Trust. 2010. Web. 19 Jan 2016.
