Do you live in a food desert? These 14 Bucks neighborhoods noted for lack of food choices

Elaine Lovado-Chambers relies a lot on canned goods and occasionally breakfasts at McDonald’s — the only restaurant in walking distance from her apartment in Bristol Township.

A few times a month, a niece drives her to the Walmart Supercenter in neighboring Tullytown for cans of soup, microwavable meals, and those personal pizzas small enough for the toaster oven.

Such is life in her USDA-designated food desert.

Chambers lives in one of 14 Bucks food deserts identified by the federal government for a mix of financial struggles, limited transport, and no nearby supermarket or grocery store.

Access to food can seem an afterthought in one of Pennsylvania’s wealthiest counties, where nearly everyone drives.

Yet, the USDA’s food desert list includes neighborhoods in Bensalem, Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Falls, Sellersville, Warminster, and Quakertown. Such neighborhood food deserts are mapped out in census tracts — small geographical areas used, almost exclusively, by government statisticians.

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What is a food desert?

The USDA maps out food deserts after looking at average income, vehicle ownership, and the locations of certain stores selling healthy ―not junk ― food.

Areas can be labelled as low income if they have a poverty rate greater than 20% or if the income in that neighborhood is 20% lower than the average income for the surrounding neighborhoods.

Next, the government looks at U.S. Census data on vehicle ownership.

Finally, the USDA looks at the distance to a supermarket or grocery store, and it applies different standards for urban and rural communities — one mile for the former and 10 miles for the latter.

And, not every food store is counted. If you live near a 7-Eleven, a dollar store, or pharmacy, the USDA doesn’t count those locations as a "food access points" because such places rarely sell fresh fruits and vegetables.

Members-only stores such as a BJ’s Wholesale and Sam’s Club aren’t part of the counts, either, because of their exclusivity.

Where are Bucks County's food deserts?

The USDA considers the historically Black communities of Winder Village, Bloomsdale Fleetwing, and Venice Ashby to be food deserts. Only a mile south along Route 13, some areas of Croydon and West Bristol are also food deserts, according to the government.

Residents in all those neighborhoods once had two supermarkets at the nearby Bristol Commerce Park located at Routes 13 and 413. The Pathmark supermarket there closed in 2010 and re-opened as an Ollie's bargain outlet. A Walmart at the Bristol Commerce Park also closed in 2017 and remains vacant.

In Central Bucks, Sellersville Borough is labelled as a food desert with a Landis supermarket located one mile outside town.

Further north, Quakertown' historic downtown district is considered a food desert with the closest supermarket being more than one mile away on state Route 309.

In Bensalem, the USDA labelled as a food desert the area surrounding Country Commons Apartments, an affordable housing complex next to Parx Casino.

In Warminster, the Station at Bucks County Apartments and Aspen Grove Apartment Homes are considered food deserts. Located at Street and Jacksonville roads, the community does have a nearby Costco. However, the USDA does not consider members-only stores when mapping out food deserts.

What’s being done about food deserts?

The USDA’s food desert map has spawned many studies and some legislation that sits in Congress.

Some researchers have criticized the USDA’s methodology, saying it should have included more types of convenience stores, farmer’s markets, food pantries and community gardens.

A 2019 study by the Philadelphia Department of Health found that most stores in that city did not sell fruits and vegetables. Only one in 10 food stores in Philly had a section of the food store selling a variety of produce, according to that report.

In response the USDA report, the White House created a “working group” from the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture.

In the U.S. Senate, a bipartisan bill would offer 15% in annual tax credits to certain food stores that open in designated food deserts. The measure was introduced by Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, of Virginia, and co-sponsored by four others, including Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey.

A similar measure is under consideration in the U.S. House with 22 co-sponsors, among them Montgomery County Democrat and U.S. Rep. Madeline Dean. No Republicans have co-sponsored that bill.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Food desert map shows locations with no supermarket nearby