LOS ANGELES |

POPULATION: 3,820,000

To halt the spread of fast food chains in South Los Angeles, the LA City Council halted restaurant construction in 2008. It was part of a goal to introduce healthier food options to an area that is over 95 percent Latino or African-American. Beyond city mandates, Angelenos have also taken to urban farming. One study found more than 1,261 urban agriculture sites mostly concentrated in South and East Los Angeles—areas near or within food deserts.

SOURCES: www.urbanfarmonline.com| www.voicewaves.org| www.rand.org| www.chc-inc.org (1)

One study that looked at more than 1,273 “retail food outlets” in Central and South Los Angeles found that less than 2 percent of the outlets were supermarkets.

The City Council estimates there are close to 1,000 fast-food restaurants in a 30-square-mile area of South L.A. A 2010 study showed only 60 grocery stores in the same area, or one for about every 22,000 residents.

8 miles south of Dodger Stadium, the city of Vernon loses almost $82 million to grocery leakage—money leaving the neighborhood because residents have no local grocery stores.

Less than a mile east of Downtown L.A., Boyle Heights with a population of nearly 100,000 has only four large supermarkets.

According to a study by the Community Health Council, there was only 1 grocery store for every 6,000 residents in South and East L.A., while the more affluent neighborhood of West L.A. contained 1 for every 3,800 residents—a 58 percent difference

CHICAGO|

POPULATION: 2,714,856

From 2005 to 2011, the number of Chicago residents living in food deserts has been reduced by 40%. City-wide efforts big and small have included actively encouraging development of more supermarkets, the passage of new legislation for urban agriculture and community farms, and traveling mobile stores. Mayor Rahm Emanuel set a target of reducing food desert residents by 200,000 by 2015, with the overall goal of eliminating food deserts entirely from Chicago by 2020.

SOURCES: www.marigallagher.com (1)| www.marigallagher.com (2)

West Side communities like Austin, Lawndale and Tri-Taylor are within four miles of Chicago’s famed “Restaurant Row” on Randolph Street, yet residents in these food deserts have few neighborhood supermarkets to buy fresh produce.

The total number of children living in food deserts could fill school buses that, if lined up bumper to bumper, would stretch from the Obamas’ Hyde Park house to City Hall to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house in Ravenswood.

A study in 2011 found that Chicago's food desert population is estimated to be 384,000. That’s enough to fill the White Sox’s U.S. Cellular Field to full capacity ten times over.

The West and South sides of Chicago have both the highest rates of obesity and the most limited grocery store access in the city. Obesity is estimated to increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 34 times.

Chicago’s Far Southeast Side is one of the city’s three critical food deserts. In a typical block of the predominantly African-American neighborhoods in this area, the nearest grocery store is roughly twice as far as the nearest fast food restaurant.

NEW YORK CITY|

POPULATION: 8,245,000

Renowned for its restaurant and food culture, New York City has 3 million residents that live in food deserts. The city’s unique geography limits the expansion of existing supermarkets and the creation of new ones. The city has the potential to capture approximately $1 billion in grocery sales that are lost to suburbs. If that loss were diverted back to the city, it’d be enough to support more than 100 new neighborhood grocery stores. City policies and nonprofits are working to encourage a diverse range of initiatives to increase access to low income neighborhoods.

SOURCES: www.nyc.gov (1)| www.policylink.org| www.council.nyc.gov| hungercenter.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com| www.nyc.gov (2)

In the shadow of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, there are a significant lack of markets even along heavily trafficked subway routes. No Bronx neighborhoods meet the city’s goal of having 30,000 sq ft of supermarket space for every 10,000 people.

In a survey of diabetic adults in East Harlem, 40% said that they didn’t follow their recommended diet because the necessary food was hard to find in their neighborhood and, if a store did carry it, it was more expensive. Another study found that only 2 - 4% of Harlem bodegas carried leafy green vegetables.

1.4 million New Yorkers struggle to put food on the table—that’s enough people to fill Madison Square Garden to capacity for 74 nights in a row.

In Corona, Queens, only 14% of all food stores were supermarkets, with bodegas making up the majority of stores.Only 83% of Corona bodegas carried at least one vegetable, and only 30% carried three common fruit (bananas, apples, and oranges).

Brooklyn reports higher than normal rates of obesity and diabetes and in one survey, 14 - 26% of residents in central and eastern Brooklyn reported consuming no fruit or vegetables the previous day.

MIAMI|

POPULATION: 413,892

The City of Miami and its adjacent neighborhoods such as Opa-Locka and Hialeah have many low-income communities with low supermarket sales. In fact, 18% of Miami-Dade County’s 2.5 million population lives below the poverty level. Only 22% of adults meet the Federal government's guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption, and 67% of adults are considered obese or overweight.

SOURCES: www.quickfacts.census.gov| www.cdc.gov| www.feedingamerica.org| www.healthymiamidade.org (1)| www.healthymiamidade.org (2)| www.youthleadmaimi.org

A survey of 400 residents in the Liberty City food desert found that few grow their own food in a garden, but 92% of respondents said they would buy from a farmers market if one was available.

As of 2011, there were 64 convenience stores and gas marts, but only five grocery stores in the Liberty City food desert, which is less 10 miles away from Miami Beach.

In food desert neighborhoods like part of Grapeland Heights, there are low to no grocery sales because of a lack of markets. Each week, parts of Grapeland Heights see less than $118,250 in sales per square mile, compared to more affluent neighborhoods like Brickell, which see more than $323,200 in sales per square mile each week.

Miami-Dade County has 250,000 low income people with poor supermarket access. That’s enough to fill the Miami Dolphins’ Sun Stadium more than 3 times over.

Two out of every three adults in Miami-Dade are overweight or obese. In some low-income, food desert neighborhoods like Little Havana, there are high rates of diet-related deaths from causes such as diabetes and heart disease.

SAN FRANCISCO|

POPULATION: 812,826

Renowned for its foodie culture, San Francisco is still not immune to food deserts. Neighborhoods including the Tenderloin, Treasure Island, Vistacion Valley, and Hunters Point have historically lacked grocery stores, and nearby Bay Area communities like Oakland also struggle with accessibility. In 2012, SF Supervisor Eric Mar introduced a new food initiative requiring neighborhood stores to devote at least 35 percent of the selling area to fresh produce and less than 20 percent for tobacco or alcohol.

More than 1 million residents — or one in every 7 people — across Bay Area counties are “food insecure.”

The first grocery store in 20 years opened in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood in 2011, bringing fresh food to more than 40,000 residents.

West Oakland’s 25,000 residents have no grocery store in their city.

SOURCES: www.spur.org (1)| www.spur.org (2)| www.sustainablecommunitiesindex.org| www.sfgate.com| www.peoplescommunitymarket.com

SAN DIEGO|

POPULATION: 1,326,000

San Diego has a greater number of fast-food chains for every fresh food vendor than Los Angeles, but it measures above the state average when it comes to food security. Still, there are pockets in northern San Diego classified as food deserts and the city has a particular problem with childhood obesity as the number of youth eating fruits and vegetables on a daily basis scales downward. Fortunately for San Diego, the national trend of urban agriculture and farmer's markets has caught on, turning underused tracts of land in low-income areas into generators of fresh produce.

There are 4.5 times more fast-food chains than fresh food vendors within the city of San Diego.

In the neighborhoods of Prado Terrace and Bakers Hill to the north, 15% of some 2,769 households are without a vehicle and more than half a mile from a supermarket.

Over 30% of ninth graders are overweight, and less than 25% eat at least 5 fruits or vegetables daily.

SOURCES: www.kpbs.org (1)| www.kpbs.org (2)| www.asi.ucdavis.edu

MINNEAPOLIS|

POPULATION: 387,753

For residents in the city's urban core, corner stores and shops are often the only food option within distance. To bring variety into those corner stores, the Minneapolis City Council passed a staple food ordinance in 2008 mandating corner stores provide at least five varieties of perishable produce. Compliance with the ordinance proved hard to secure, prompting the city to launch The Minneapolis Healthy Corner Store Program to stock corner stores with fresh produce. The city is also allowing EBT (electronic benefit transfer) at local farmer's markets and matching up to five dollars of food stamp expenditures on fresh fruits and vegetables through a program called Market Bucks.

As early as 2006, nearly 50% of the city's 370,000+ residents resided within a food desert.

20% of Minneapolis residents lack vehicle access, making a trip to a large suburban food store a hardship.

25% of residents qualify as being obese, a problem that is seen as an extension of the city's wide food desert.

SOURCES: www.mn2020.org| www.geog.umn.edu| www.minneapolisfed.org

DETROIT|

POPULATION: 706,585

One of Detroit’s greatest hurdles is incentivizing high quality, large format grocery chain stores to serve the urban areas most in need. While the city explores ways to improve tax incentives and business retention, many Detroiters have turned to grassroots, community-led solutions to help insure better food security. The City Planning Commission’s Urban Agriculture Work Group has worked on optimizing policy on zoning issues for gardens and farms and today, Detroit has more community gardens per square mile than any other city in the United States.

More than 500,000 Detroiters live in neighborhoods that require residents to travel more than twice as far to reach a full-service grocer than an alternative, and often less healthy, food supplier.

More than one third of urban Detroit residents travel further than 2 miles to reach a supermarket.

The 2010 census found that 1 in 3 Detroit households don’t have a vehicle. With the city announcing more cuts to the bus system, public transportation becomes a huge challenge for residents to travel to markets.

SOURCES: www.degc.org| www.detroitfoodpolicycouncil.net

MEMPHIS|

POPULATION: 652,050

Faced with decades of disinvestment, Memphis has seen grocery stores pack up and move out, leaving behind fewer accessible options to serve the community. Organizations like Forces4Quality and Healthy Memphis Common Table are supporting the creation of Famers’ Markets that accept SNAP benefits, and offer dollar matching programs for shoppers to receive $10 worth of fresh food for only $5. The Green Machine is bringing fresh foods in a mobile food market at 15 targeted locations throughout the city, such as public schools, community centers, and senior citizen facilities.

Only 9% of low-income census tracts in Memphis have a grocery store.

In 2010, the Food Research and Action Center ranked Memphis as the metropolitan area with the greatest food hardship, where residents lack the money to buy the food they need.

26% of families in Memphis could not afford to buy food during 2008-2009

SOURCES: www.bluetoad.com| www.frac.org (1)

ATLANTA|

POPULATION: 432,427

Despite Georgia’s growing population, the state lacks supermarkets. Atlanta residents find themselves travelling long distances to purchase foods needed for a healthy diet, and the majority of stores are convenience stores and fast food establishments. The Atlanta Local Food Initiative is working to create a more sustainable food system in the Atlanta metro area through job creation, promotion of healthy eating, and increasing access to local, fresh food in underserved neighborhoods.

In Atlanta’s Fulton County, 30% of residents live in a food desert.

Atlanta has 8 fast food restaurants and convenience stores for every one supermarket or farmers’ market.

Underserved areas of the Atlanta metro area have more than $300 million of grocery expenditure leaving the area.

SOURCES: www.arkfab.gatech.edu| www.smartech.gatech.edu| www.policylink.org

NEW ORLEANS|

POPULATION: 360,740

Eight years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the city is still feeling its effects, especially in hard-hit areas like the Lower Ninth Ward. Many supermarkets that once existed have not returned, and for families without cars, taking several buses to a market is often beyond what they can afford. The New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative is working to provide nearly $14 million in financial assistance to supermarkets, grocery stores and other fresh food retailers to open new stores and revitalize neighborhoods.

Approximately 12.5% of New Orleans residents live in a food desert and 20.6% of the population is food insecure.

60% of low-income residents of New Orleans must drive more than 3 miles to a grocery store, but only half of those have a car.

In New Orleans, there’s an average of one supermarket for every 18,000 residents.

SOURCES: www.nola.gov| prc.tulane.edu (1)| prc.tulane.edu (2)| www.policylink.org| nolafpac.org

Drink Good, Raise Good

With one pound of blended fruits or vegetables in our product, Naked Juice knows the power a pound of good can do. That is why we have teamed up with Wholesome Wave– a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving access and affordability of fresh local produce in underserved urban and rural communities across America – to spread the spirit of a pound!

To date, Naked Juice has donated 150,000 pounds worth of produce to the organization with the help of consumers. Find out how you can contribute to the cause here.

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