The Urban Food Project
Do you live in an Urban Food Desert?
Consider where you live. Can you buy fresh, skinless chicken as easily as ready-made fried chicken? Can you buy whole, raw potatoes as easily as French Fries or a bag of chips? Can you buy fresh tomatoes or only ketchup? If you answered no to any of these questions… you may live in a “Food Desert” even though you are right in the middle of Birmingham.
Food Deserts are large geographic areas with no mainstream grocery stores. Often, Food Deserts have ready access to fringe food, food high in salt, fat, and sugar. Many fringe locations also offer “quick meals” that are highly convenient but cannot support a healthy diet on a regular basis.
Food Deserts suffer worse diet-related health outcomes, including diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease and premature death. These effects are independent from other contributing factors such as income, race, and education.
What can we do about it?
Main Street Birmingham has commissioned a survey of Birmingham communities’ access to healthy food. The survey was conducted by the Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group.
Download the Full Survey
Main Street Birmingham is developing a plan with the Project for Public Spaces, a national expert in Public Market design and implementation, for a public market system in Birmingham that can reach the people and places where grocery stores cannot go. The group plans to implement “mini-public markets” in at least two under-served neighborhoods in the coming weeks to connect fresh food with residents.
MAIN STREET BIRMINGHAM’S URBAN FOOD PROJECT IS AN INITIATIVE OF THE HEALTH ACTION PARTNERSHIP FUNDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
