Many
food-policy advocates point to a lack of access to healthy food as
a singular cause of obesity. Food deserts, defined “as urban
neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh,
healthy, and affordable food,” are often painted as the root cause.
After venturing into one such supposed culinary wasteland and
finding surprising options, Baylen Linnekin writes that the term
“food desert” may be useful for classifying generally the food
offerings available in an urban or rural environment. But it isn’t
terribly useful when it comes to describing a specific tract.
