Food desert

Likewise, a 2017 study conducted in Brazil highlights the critical role of non-retail sources such as fishing, farming, and home gardens in people's food security and access. Due to the overlapping, context-specific factors unique to different local food economies that influence household food access and food security, some scholars emphasize the need to adjust the definition and framework of food deserts to specific contexts in order to effectively and holistically address food insecurity, nutrition disparities, and food access issues in developing countries.

Likewise, a 2017 study conducted in Brazil highlights the critical role of non-retail sources such as fishing, farming, and home gardens in people's food security and access. Due to the overlapping, context-specific factors unique to different local food economies that influence household food access and food security, some scholars emphasize the need to adjust the definition and framework of food deserts to specific contexts in order to effectively and holistically address food insecurity, nutrition disparities, and food access issues in developing countries.

Several researchers have also proposed shortcomings in the current definition and framework of food deserts in the U.S. when working to lessen unhealthy food consumption, diet disparities between different communities, and food insecurity. Some researchers criticize the primary focus of current food desert frameworks - lack of retail access - as a one-dimensional over-simplification of food security and access issues that fails to address structural issues to reduce unhealthy food consumption and diet disparities.{{Cite journal |last1=Sadler |first1=Richard Casey |last2=Gilliland |first2=Jason Andrew |last3=Arku |first3=Godwin |date=2016 |title=Theoretical issues in the 'food desert' debate and ways forward |journal=GeoJournal |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=443–455 |doi=10.1007/s10708-015-9634-6 |bibcode=2016GeoJo..81..443S |s2cid=254512944 |issn=0343-2521}}

Several researchers have also proposed shortcomings in the current definition and framework of food deserts in the U.S. when working to lessen unhealthy food consumption, diet disparities between different communities, and food insecurity. Some researchers criticize the primary focus of current food desert frameworks - lack of retail access - as a one-dimensional over-simplification of food security and access issues that fails to address structural issues to reduce unhealthy food consumption and diet disparities.{{Cite journal |last1=Sadler |first1=Richard Casey |last2=Gilliland |first2=Jason Andrew |last3=Arku |first3=Godwin |date=2016 |title=Theoretical issues in the 'food desert' debate and ways forward |journal=GeoJournal |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=443–455 |doi=10.1007/s10708-015-9634-6 |bibcode=2016GeoJo..81..443S |s2cid=254512944 |issn=0343-2521}} Many food justice advocates also state that while local grassroots operations can provide some communities with increased food access, they fail to end food access inequities by addressing the core issues of poverty and historical disinvestment in lower-resourced communities.{{Cite journal |last=Block |first=Daniel R. |last2=Chávez |first2=Noel |last3=Allen |first3=Erika |last4=Ramirez |first4=Dinah |date=2012-06-01 |title=Food sovereignty, urban food access, and food activism: contemplating the connections through examples from Chicago |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-011-9336-8 |journal=Agriculture and Human Values |language=en |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=203–215 |doi=10.1007/s10460-011-9336-8 |issn=1572-8366}}

Likewise, some scholars argue that the current definition frames food access as a binary problem (either you are in a food desert or not), which overstates the problem of space when food access is a complex, multi-dimensional problem involving other critical factors such as transportation infrastructure, income, time, and consumer behavior.{{Cite journal |last=Widener |first=Michael J. |date=2018 |title=Spatial access to food: Retiring the food desert metaphor |journal=Physiology & Behavior |volume=193 |issue=Pt B |pages=257–260 |doi=10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.032 |pmid=29454842 |s2cid=3523748}} Several researchers have also cited longitudinal studies that do not observe a connection between food access and health outcomes and highlight data that suggests increased retail access does not necessarily improve the dietary choices and subsequent health outcomes of a community.{{Cite journal |last1=Block |first1=Jason P. |last2=Subramanian |first2=S. V. |date=2015 |title=Moving Beyond "Food Deserts": Reorienting United States Policies to Reduce Disparities in Diet Quality |journal=PLOS Medicine |volume=12 |issue=12 |article-number=e1001914 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001914 |issn=1549-1676 |doi-access=free |pmid=26645285 |pmc=4672916}}

Likewise, some scholars argue that the current definition frames food access as a binary problem (either you are in a food desert or not), which overstates the problem of space when food access is a complex, multi-dimensional problem involving other critical factors such as transportation infrastructure, income, time, and consumer behavior.{{Cite journal |last=Widener |first=Michael J. |date=2018 |title=Spatial access to food: Retiring the food desert metaphor |journal=Physiology & Behavior |volume=193 |issue=Pt B |pages=257–260 |doi=10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.02.032 |pmid=29454842 |s2cid=3523748}} Several researchers have also cited longitudinal studies that do not observe a connection between food access and health outcomes and highlight data that suggests increased retail access does not necessarily improve the dietary choices and subsequent health outcomes of a community.{{Cite journal |last1=Block |first1=Jason P. |last2=Subramanian |first2=S. V. |date=2015 |title=Moving Beyond "Food Deserts": Reorienting United States Policies to Reduce Disparities in Diet Quality |journal=PLOS Medicine |volume=12 |issue=12 |article-number=e1001914 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001914 |issn=1549-1676 |doi-access=free |pmid=26645285 |pmc=4672916}}