Food Desert

The Food Desert indicator is the proportion of neighborhood households located in an area where more than 30% of residents live in poverty and are located at least a 1/2 mile away from a supermarket, supercenter, or large grocery store. The USDA developed and defined food desert areas used in this indicator. The list of supermarkets, supercenters and large grocery stores that the USDA used to calculate the indicator is from 2010. Stores had to meet certain criteria to be included. Criteria included at least $2 million annual sales and having the following grocery departments: fresh produce, fresh meat and poultry, dairy, dry and packaged foods, and frozen foods. The higher the number, the higher the proportion of the neighborhood considered a food desert and the higher the negative impact on community health. Data are available at the Census tract level from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Food deserts may either have no food access or are served only by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer few healthy, affordable options. Lack of access to healthy foods is a risk factor for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Access to supermarkets affects people’s food purchasing behaviors and is strongly related to health and the built environment. Food Desert is in the Neighborhood Characteristics Domain.

Neighborhoodsort descending Indicator Value Rank
Armatage -% -
Audubon Park 33.3% 2
Bancroft 50.0% 11
Beltrami 100.0% 31
Bottineau -% -
Bryant 100.0% 31
Bryn - Mawr -% -
Calhoun Area Residents Action Group (CARAG) -% -
Camden Industrial 100.0% 31
Cedar - Isles - Dean -% -
Cedar Riverside 66.7% 27
Central 100.0% 31
Cleveland 100.0% 31
Columbia Park 100.0% 31
Como 100.0% 31
Cooper -% -
Corcoran 50.0% 11
Diamond Lake 33.3% 2
Downtown East -% -
Downtown West 50.0% 11
East Calhoun (ECCO) -% -
East Harriet -% -
East Isles -% -
East Phillips -% -
Elliot Park 33.3% 2
Ericsson -% -
Field -% -
Folwell 100.0% 31
Fulton -% -
Hale -% -
Harrison 66.7% 27
Hawthorne 25.0% 1
Hiawatha 50.0% 11
Holland 50.0% 11
Howe 40.0% 8
Humboldt Industrial Area 100.0% 31
Jordan -% -
Keewaydin -% -
Kenny -% -
Kenwood -% -
King Field 33.3% 2
Lind - Bohanon 100.0% 31
Linden Hills -% -
Logan Park 100.0% 31
Longfellow 40.0% 8
Loring Park 33.3% 2
Lowry Hill -% -
Lowry Hill East -% -
Lyndale 66.7% 27
Lynnhurst -% -
Marcy Holmes 50.0% 11
Marshall Terrace 100.0% 31
McKinley 100.0% 31
Mid - City Industrial 100.0% 31
Midtown Phillips -% -
Minnehaha -% -
Morris Park -% -
Near - North 66.7% 27
Nicollet Island - East Bank -% -
North Loop -% -
Northeast Park 100.0% 31
Northrop -% -
Page -% -
Phillips West 100.0% 31
Powderhorn Park 50.0% 11
Prospect Park - East River Road 50.0% 11
Regina -% -
Seward -% -
Sheridan 50.0% 11
Shingle Creek 100.0% 31
St. Anthony East -% -
St. Anthony West -% -
Standish 50.0% 11
Steven's Square - Loring Heights -% -
Sumner - Glenwood (Heritage Park) 100.0% 31
Tangletown -% -
University of Minnesota 50.0% 11
Ventura Village 33.3% 2
Victory 50.0% 11
Waite Park 50.0% 11
Webber - Camden 100.0% 31
Wenonah 50.0% 11
West Calhoun -% -
Whittier 40.0% 8
Willard - Hay 100.0% 31
Windom 50.0% 11
Windom Park 50.0% 11

Key Citations:
1. Flournoy, Rebecca. “Healthy Food Healthy Communities, Promising Strategies to Improve Access to Fresh, Healthy Food and Transform Communities” (2011). PolicyLink.

2. NCHH. “Housing Interventions at the Neighborhood Level and Health: A Review of the Evidence” National Center for Healthy Housing. 2010.

3. Lovasi, Gina S., et al. “Built Environments and Obesity in Disadvantaged Populations” (2009). Epidemiologic Reviews, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

4. Whitacre, Paula, et al. “The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts: Workshop Summary” (2009). National Academy of Sciences.