Rural Food Deserts in the United States A Sociological Analysis
by Carol Kinney
for SOC213 Introduction to Sociology California Baptist University Dr. Richard E. Niemeyer
August 18, 2014
A few semesters ago in Professor Samuel Park’s Contemporary Visual Arts and Culture class, an assignment was given to watch the movie Food, Inc.. After watching that movie, I became aware of the phenomenon called food deserts. The movie sparked my interest in the phenomenon because I had not realized that such a thing existed. In my mind, people residing in suburban or urban settings would not have a problem accessing quality, healthy food because of the plentitude of retail outlets associated with these settings, nor had I considered a phenomenon would exist in a rural setting because of the proximity to farms. Even though I am aware of social class gaps have created deep poverty that causes many to go without food in the United States, I had always felt that this was an inequality in the economic structure, rather than other factors. What I learned from watching Food, Inc. sparked my interest to learn more about food deserts in order to become more educated about the subject. According to many sources, including the United States Department of Agriculture, the accepted definition of a food desert is “urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food” (USDA, n.d.), and which the only access to food may be from “fast food restaurants and convenience stores.” After conducting preliminary research, I learned that there are several socioeconomic factors that have caused the existence of food deserts in the United States and in other parts of the world. I also noticed, as did researchers Jesse McEntee and Julian Agyeman (2010), much of the research pertaining to food deserts in the United States focuses on the urban setting rather than the rural setting. This led me to ask three questions: what are the factors that are unique to the rural food desert in America, what impact does the rural food desert have on the people and communities residing in them and how are the answers to these two questions related to sociological issues?
KinneyC 2 In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to conduct research. Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein, authors of The Real World (2012), describe several research methods in which sociological research is conducted: ethnographic, interviews, surveys, using existing research sources, and experimental methods (44-58). By carefully comparing and contrasting the objective of this analysis with each method, and through process of elimination, it is determined that the most efficient and the best method in which to conduct the research for this analysis is to use existing resources. The other methods presented challenges in time, travel, direct access to a large number of affected communities and people, or lacked the tools to answer the two posed questions. The advantages of using existing sources as a methodology are that I was able to access large amounts of information in a relatively short period of time without having to spend financial resources to travel to various geographical areas around the United States in order to collect data. Governmental and private research is available to provide statistical data and personal accounts so that I could compare, contrast and “replicate� (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 56) data. From my research on the topic of food deserts, I found that the topic itself raises a wide variety of questions regarding physical and mental health, economics, politics, psychology, sociology, geography, history and a number of other social science and scientific viewpoints. A majority of the research addressed more than one of these topical categories, which led to the conclusion field research would extend itself beyond the scope of this project. Because I sought the answers to two specific sociological questions, using existing sources allowed me to narrow my focus and research. The existing sources that I used were scholarly research, film clips, and statistical data.
KinneyC 3 Prior to conducting this research, I assumed that there would be patterns of emotional and economical impacts upon a majority of the people residing in a rural food desert. I also assumed that there would be unifying social elements within rural food deserts across the United States, and estimated that a majority of the existing resources would interpret the data and the factors of food deserts by using “conflict theory” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 22-25). Through research, I discovered that I was both correct and mistaken in my assumptions. The assumptions that there would be patterns of emotional and economical affects upon a majority of the people residing in a rural food desert were incorrect. According to several studies, only persons living in rural areas of America with a confirmed food desert without a social network are greatly and negatively affected by the food desert. In a study called “Solving the Problems of Iowa Food Deserts: Food Insecurity and Civic Structure” (Morton, et al., 2005) the researchers state that people living in rural food deserts are more apt to have a strong social network of friends, neighbors and family members who help provide transportation to grocery stores, share food from farms and gardens, and have access to charitable programs and organizations that help provide healthy food. Only those persons, such as some elderly and newer members of the community, are severely negatively impacted in the rural food desert. The impact is different in urban food deserts where transportation issues instead of social issues are more likely to affect access to quality, affordable food (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 423) In light of this information, symbolic interactionism theory is used to interpret the meaning of the results. Ferris and Stein state that the “approach to family” (2012; 363) using this theory means that “social construction . . . is created, changed and maintained in interaction.” People living in rural food deserts who rely upon their social network to create an extended family to
KinneyC 4 lessen the negative economic and emotional impacts that food deserts creates within society, and has no negative impact on self-value. However, for those who lacked access to transportation via a social network, the rural food desert is interpreted through conflict theory in that “inequalities” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 363) of community status inhibits access to healthy food and provides a negative self-value. The second assumption that I made, that there would be unified elements of all rural food deserts in America, was both correct and incorrect at the same time. The element that exists in all rural food deserts from existing research points to socioeconomic imbalances within American society. According to Troy Blanchard and Thomas Lyson, there is a “relationship between educational attainment” (2007; 15), social class, and access to healthy food, as well as higher prices for healthy food than those living in urban food deserts. Some existing sources also conclude that racial inequality is a common factor of all food deserts, rural and urban (i.e. Powell, L, et al, 20061), however this is inconclusive when compared to the “socio-demographic characteristics of nonmetropolitan food desert and nonfood desert counties by region” (Blanchard & Lyson, 2007; Table 2; 25). After carefully weighing the existing sources, it is more probable that income, social class, education, social network, and transportation carry more measurement in the rural food desert than race. Another element of the social imbalance is the theory in regards to all food deserts is that the social inequalities are magnified by the “actions of big corporations and the responses of governmental bodies” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 424). The term for this is “deprivation amplification” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 424). 1 Powell, L.M., et al. (2006). Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States [abstract]. Preventive Medicine, 44(3), 189-195. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743506003343.
KinneyC 5 The one element that I failed to consider in my assumption, which shows the most differentiation, is geographical region. Blanchard and Lyson are among the few researchers who make the distinction between geographical regions of the United States. They found that “Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey have no food desert counties” (Blanchard & Lyson, 2007; 9) while “several states, primarily but not exclusively in the Midwest and Mountain West, have a majority of their land area composed of food desert counties.” Blanchard and Lyson also found that there are “three key trends” (2009; 9) in geographical factors of rural food deserts. Those three factors are that most rural food deserts in the U.S. border other food deserts, that there is a vast amount of land “stretching from the Rocky Mountains east into the western part of the Great Plains, from” (2007; 10) Canada to Mexico that contain nearly one giant food desert in nine different states, and that the second largest concentration of rural food desert land mass in the United States exists in the southeast. From a sociological perspective, Blanchard and Lyson interpret this using Marxist conflict theory, relating the phenomenon to the areas of the U.S. that are also “linked to hardship and deprivation” (2007; 10). In regards to my third assumption, that a majority of the existing resources on rural food deserts would interpret the information using conflict theory, proved correct. In reading many studies and articles, and viewing several movies and video clips, it was determined that none that were viewed or read interpreted the data using structural functionalism. Some, such as portions of Blanchard’s and Lyson’s study, integrated some symbolic interactionism into the study. Overall, a majority of all information regarding rural food deserts that exist interpret the data by using conflict theory. Ferris and Stein describe this approach as seeing societal “conflict as the
KinneyC 6 basis of society and social change and emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change” (2012; 35). This is true whether the researchers, authors and or directors approach the topic of rural food deserts from an economical, political, sociological or other scientific viewpoint. Also, regardless of the approach, all researchers found that there is a direct correlation between socioeconomic status and the existence of rural food deserts. All information concludes that food deserts, both rural and urban, are a product of a conflict between the wealthy corporation owners and the poorer classes in America. After reviewing the research, it can be concluded that unless there is a drastic change in the imbalanced socioeconomic class system within the United States, rural food deserts will always exist, and may continue to grow in geographical land mass, as well as in the number of people that are affected negatively by the existence of these rural food deserts. From the perspective of conflict theory, this is unlikely to happen. Karl Marx, the “inspiration” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 22) for conflict theory, believed that “the only way to change the status quo was for the masses to attain class consciousness” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 23) through revolt. The United States has certainly seen versions of revolt in the Revolutionary War, industrial striking and protests, but some economists, such as Dr. Dale Archer (2013), believe that the ideology of the American Dream is the main inhibitor to class consciousness and revolt over class inequality. Similar to Marx’s conflict theory, the Christian perspective of the socioeconomic imbalance within American society that has created food deserts states that the imbalance will continue until Christ returns. Christian scripture provides many examples of how God wishes his people to treat others in order to eliminate social class imbalances (c.f. Is. 1:17; Prov. 31:9; Matt. 7:12; 1
KinneyC 7 John 3:17-18; etc), while at the same time acknowledging that as long as this world exists, the social imbalances will always exist (c.f. Matt. 25:31-46; James 5:1-5; Deut. 15:11). Until the day comes when Christ returns to establish his kingdom “forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15), it is important to work towards showing God’s vision for the world to the world. One way to accomplish this task is to study the current trends in order to understand where people are in need of assistance. There are a few of the current trends associated with the needs of the people residing within rural food deserts in America that stand out. The United States is seeing an increase in migration to the very states that Blanchard and Lyson identified as having the largest number of rural food deserts (Swanson, 2009). Some researchers, such as Joseph Sharkey and Scott Horel (2008), agree with the data trends, adding that the socioeconomic situation of the migrants (uneducated, poor, and/or recent immigrants) will continue to grow rural food deserts. Another trend occurring is an attempt to eliminate the urban food desert. Wal-Mart has begun initiating a new retail model called the “Neighborhood Market” (Kulikowski, L., 2013) “in an effort to reach more customers in urban settings and geographies that can’t support a traditional supercenter” it is likely that a majority of these markets will be located outside rural food deserts because businesses such as Wal-mart will consider the cost of operating compared to how many people will be served. This is a prime example of deprivation amplification. Wal-mart most likely would consider a rural neighborhood market not worth the cost of doing business as compared to the urban market. This is good news for those residing within the urban food desert, but for those in the rural food desert their social inequalities will only continue unless big business and government becomes less concerned about profits and more concerned about
KinneyC 8 growing a social conscience. The rural food desert phenomenon cannot be fixed on the “individual level” (Ferris & Stein, 2012; 424), but must be attacked at the macro level. Because at this current time this is not true of American society, it is appropriate that sociologists mainly interpret the affects of food deserts using conflict theory because “its focus is on how economic factors influence the way organizations use the environment [or members of society] and how this use is often supported by political systems and policies” (Ferris and Stein, 2012; 471). Because there is more research and headway in urban food deserts than rural food deserts (United States Department of Agriculture, 2009; Chapter 9), sociological research trends should be concerned with studying the unique aspects and affects of the rural food desert in the coming years. Both the Blanchard-Lyson and the Sharkey-Horel research shows how rural food deserts and the populations within them are growing exponentially compared to urban food deserts, which makes the rural food desert a crucial study for sociologists. Lastly, because the current existing sources do not have a cohesive answer in how to alleviate the negative impact of rural food deserts, especially for those without material resources or social networks, researchers should attempt to come to at least a small consensus as to what may be the best approach to begin to aid those most greatly impacted without political and economical barriers and influence. From a sociological perspective, sociologists can be the influencers of class consciousness and change in society in the same way that Jesus Christ said: “Then the King will say to those on his right, Welcome, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink . . . as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:34-35a, 40b
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