Food deserts are locations where the families living there don’t have access to a grocery store within 1 mile. You might say that 1 mile isn’t a lot, but in actuality, due to the majority of food deserts being located around low income communities and communities that rely heavily on public transportation, 1 mile is a big deal. 

The effects of retail redlining and specifically supermarket redlining is dramatic. Not having access to healthy and affordable food from chain grocery stores is just one part of the problem people who live in food deserts have to overcome. Many of the people living in these areas have a higher chance of having health concerns, they oftentimes have to pay more for lower quality food, and it’s a hassle to get food that they can afford. Many people are forced to shop at local convenience stores that don't provide the quality or the variety that people not living in food deserts have. The effects that food deserts have on the community as a whole are also devastating. The community continues to get run down, businesses are driven out, and the real estate values drop significantly. There was even a study done that showed that food deserts also tend to be `play deserts', as they usually don’t have as many playgrounds due to the lack of care and support that community is getting. 

While the food desert issue is a difficult one to solve, implementing community gardens, farmers markets, and a bus that goes directly to a name brand supermarket, could help the effects of this devastating reality in many ways. I believe that these solutions will work, but, the attention and help from the Maryland government is required. All of these solutions require government land and funding. They are partially responsible for the effects of food desserts by not caring about these communities in the first place. 

Yes, the government has already done so much by providing food stamps and other food assistance programs, but, they are missing a key factor in why these food deserts exist, location. The government can provide as much money as they want, but in actuality, the people still are stranded with no way of getting to the supermarket easily even if they might be able to afford it. Therefore, it is necessary to provide direct transportation, and options to get healthy food from your neighborhood directly. 

As most of the College Park community is from Maryland, I believe we could have a huge impact in forcing the government to notice this issue and force them to do something about it. As citizens, we have the responsibility to help. 25% of the people living in Baltimore live in food deserts which is an outstanding amount. While this percentage is improving as more people hear about food deserts and the effects of this form of descirimantion, this petition can improve the food desert situation even more by bringing demanding attention to it. 

Read up on how the food desert issue causes less playgrounds:

 Cohen DA, et al. “Are Food Deserts Also Play Deserts?” Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, vol. 93, no. 2, 2016, pp. 235–43., doi:10.1007/s11524-015-0024-7.

Look at the map of food deserts in Baltimore and read up on how it's helping this issue:

 https://www.governing.com/topics/health-human-services/gov-baltimore-mapping-food-deserts-johns-hopkins.html