African American communities and low-income communities tend to be less likely to have a full-service grocery store within their area, she said.
But Freedman notes, the root causes are complex. Through policy, we segregated how people live in our country and that segregation not only influences who s living where, but also what are the resources available in that space, Freedman said.
But food deserts aren’t only in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. A lack of access to food can be found all over Northeast Ohio in places like Akron, Lorain, Elyria, and even parts of Ashtabula. [Nationally,] we have high rates of food insecurity, Freedman explained. About 1 in 10 people are food insecure..and in Ohio, we re actually above the national average,