Food Deserts
Project WebsiteA Food Desert is a region with limited or no access to healthy foods. Ypsilanti, Michigan (outlined in brown) struggles to provide healthy food options to its citizens.
Food Environment Spectrum*
Food Desert
*Brown indicates an unhealthy food environment, where many people are likely to be obese. As healthy food stores are added, the slider changes in color, becoming more green. The greenest, or healthiest neighborhoods, have easy access to supermarkets, which offer healthy food options at lower prices.
1 Radius & Effect of Store Types
Modify the food desert to fit your model.
Radius
Effect
20 fewer people
7 more people
16 more people
2 Add a ...
Drag the icon of the store type you would like to add onto the map, and see how it affects the food environment.
3 Restore Default Setup
After you have altered the food environment to fit your model, you can always restore the default setup.
4 Learn More
Related Links
- County Health Rankings
Shows the health of the country by county based on a number of health factors. - Walk Score
Find a walkable place to live with easy access to food and retail. - Michelle Obama tackles food deserts in Philadelphia
As part of Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign, she highlights the need to have access to healthy, affordable food.
Related Documents
The Food Deserts visualization was created by a team of graduate students at The University of Michigan School of Information. To learn more about the project, please visit their project website.