Food Deserts in Los Angeles

The Background


A food desert is a geographic area where residents lack access to healthy food options. Lack of access could be a product of many things: distance, convenience, or low-income. All these things affect a resident's ability to acquire healthy food options.

I looked on USDA's Food Access Research Atlas to see if I lived in a food desert. To my surprise, the area where I worked was not a food desert! A grocer may have been within a mile away but it felt so inconvenient when all these other food options were so common. There was a fast casual bakery/cafe place known for having healthy sandwiches. But they were pretty pricey, not really fiscally efficient to eat there often. So I was experiencing a lack of access and I didn't even live in the area! I just worked there!

App Features



The Yelp ratings should also help identify if it's an affordable option to grocers. What would make sense is seeing more upscale grocers near higher income areas. If there were upscale grocers near poorer areas, it would unlikely that the residents can afford it. And if they can't afford it, they are more likely to get their food elsewhere.







The Long Beach area above can seen to have both ends of the income spectrum. It's possible, like in zipcode 90059, to have nobody earning over $200,000 in the area. So you can imagine that there could be areas with nice neighborhoods in Long Beach. Perhaps those neighborhoods are closer to the 2-dollar sign grocer.


Tools and Data

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