Study finds Ga. food deserts growing at alarming rate

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Nearly a million people living in Georgia have limited access to a full-service supermarket, according to a study by the Reinvestment Fund.

The “limited supermarket access analysis” found the disparity is growing due to rapid population growth in the state.

Christina Szczepanski with the Reinvestment Fund says more people are moving into rural or urban communities that lack resources, “Retail lags. It takes a much longer time frame for grocery stores and other types of retailers just can’t catch up.”

As defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a food desert means people have to travel more than a mile to a grocery store for fresh food.

In Augusta, having to travel on multiple buses just to gain access to fresh food used to be the reality for Harrisburg and Laney Walker neighbors.

Part of that is being addressed by the Veggie Park farmers market at the HUB for Community Innovation on Chaffee Avenue.

Every week 200 to 400 people walk inside the HUB looking at the fresh food options.

There’s also help through the Georgia Food for Health Program.

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