Letter: 'Food deserts' exist on LI
The D&S Met Market on East 110th Street in East Harlem gives residents a place to buy fresh produce. Credit: Newsday/Charles Eckert
In his column " 'Food desert' theory of obesity is wispy thin" [Opinion, April 23], Daniel Akst shares his opinion that food deserts are "just a mirage."
He says that "just 2.2 percent of households live more than a mile from a supermarket." That's an interesting statistic. Health department statistics from Nassau and Suffolk indicate that more than 83,000 Long Islanders have limited access to affordable, healthy food. These residents are defined as living on incomes below the poverty level, and more than a mile from the nearest grocery store.
That's "just" 3 percent of Long Island, but does that mean 83,000 people should be ignored? This measure does not even take into account the more than 50,000 households on Long Island with no access to a vehicle. Trying to prove that food deserts do not exist is faulty in its own right, but to dismiss the link between food equity and obesity is plain inaccurate.
Access to nutritious, affordable food is a human right, and implementing projects and programs, such as local farmers' markets and community gardens, ensures that right is respected for every Long Islander.
The Long Island Index, a private data-gathering project, has created a map showing dozens of gaps in, or areas without, supermarkets and large grocery stores throughout Long Island, i.e., food deserts, at www.longislandindexmaps.org.
That's not a notion "built on sand," but a reality built on fact.
Amy Engel, Farmingdale
Editor's note: The writer is the executive director of Sustainable Long Island, a regional nonprofit organization that advances economic development, environmental health, and social equity.
