Overview:
Increases in obesity and diet-related diseases are major health problems in the United States. During the last 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in the nation’s obesity rates, correlating with increased rates of cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, Type 2 diabetes, increased health-care costs, reduced quality of life and increased risk for premature death.
Studies show that
certain racial groups are disproportionately affected by obesity. These
problems may be worse in some U.S. communities because access to affordable and
nutritious food is difficult. This is especially true for those living in
low-income communities of color and rural areas with limited access to
supermarkets, grocery stores or other food retailers that offer the large
variety of foods needed for a healthy diet such as fresh fruits and vegetables,
whole grains, fresh dairy and lean meat products. Instead, individuals in these
areas may be more reliant on convenience stores, fast food or similar
retailers, or they may not have enough money to afford the higher prices. These
areas of limited access are called “food deserts.”
This lesson explores
the concept of food deserts and the relationship between food deserts, poverty
and obesity. Students are encouraged to examine their personal access to a
healthy diet; compare prices of common staple items among different retail
options; and analyze the causes and consequences of food deserts locally and
nationally. Finally, students are asked to come up with solutions to help the
food desert that is closest to their school.
Additional Resources
United States
Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service: Site includes a Food Desert Locator (Maps and
provides data about food deserts in United States) and a Food Environment Atlas
(Provides an overview about a community’s ability to access healthy food).
Access to Affordable
and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and their
Consequences: Report (2009) to Congress from the United States Department of
Agriculture.
The Grocery Gap: Who
Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters: Report from Policy Link and the Food Trust.
Objectives
Activities will help
students:
- define
and examine the characteristics of food deserts
- identify
the causes and consequences of food deserts
- determine
if their community is a food desert
- research
the closest food desert to their school
- design
solutions to help residents who live in food deserts
Essential Questions
- How does
our neighborhood influence the choices we make about our health?
- How
would not having a grocery store near your home affect you?
- What
are the causes of obesity?
- What
does it mean to have a healthy diet?
- What
criteria might supermarket chains use to decide where to build stores?
Glossary
disparity [dih-spare-i-tee]
(noun)
lack of equality, inequality, difference
food desert [food dez-ert]
(noun) a
neighborhood where there is little or limited access to healthy and affordable
food such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
low-fat milk and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet
food insecurity [food in-si-kyoor-i-tee]
(noun) lack
of access to a sufficient amount of food because of limited funds. More than 49
million American households are considered food insecure and are vulnerable to
poor health as a result.
obesity [oh-bee-si-tee]
(noun) the
condition of being very overweight
Materials
- Access
to the Internet
- Food
Desert Statistics
- What’s
in Store?
- Flip
chart paper
- Four
signs, with one of the following phrases written on each: Strongly Agree,
Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree
Activities
- (Note: Place the four signs— Strongly Agree,
Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree—in separate corners of the room. Then read the
following statement and directions to students.)
- It’s easy to eat healthy food.
- Limited access to a supermarket can be linked to obesity.
- Supermarket chains should be forced to build in urban and rural areas, not just suburban areas.
Walk to the sign that represents your feelings or beliefs about this statement. Talk with the other students who chose to stand by the same sign and discuss your position. One group at a time, share your group’s position with the class. If you agree more with another group after hearing their position, feel free to switch corners. If you switch corners, be ready to defend your choice.
(Note: When the groups have finished reporting their positions, repeat the activity with the following two statements.)
- (Note: Write the term “food desert” on the board.)
As a class, discuss
what you think the term “food desert” means. A food desert is an area
(neighborhood, community, etc) where healthy, affordable food is difficult to
obtain. (Note: Distribute the Food
Desert Statistics handout and have students read it.) In pairs, choose three of the following questions to answer. Then report your answers to the class:
- Why
might healthy, affordable food be difficult to obtain in certain areas?
- In
which types of areas/communities do you think food deserts are most prevalent:
urban, rural or suburban?
- How
do you think living in a food desert could affect a person/family’s food
choices?
- Other
than grocery stores/supermarkets, where else could you purchase food?
- How
might food options in convenience stores or fast food establishments be less
healthy and/or more expensive?
- How
could living in a food desert relate to food insecurity (hunger)? Conversely,
how could it relate to obesity?
- Review
answers to the questions as a class. What conclusions can you draw about the
relationship between food deserts and obesity? If there is a direct
relationship, which groups might be most often affected? Write down one or two
ideas you think could help those who live in food deserts. Save them for later
in the lesson.
- What’s
in Store? asks you to fill out information about three different
types of places you could purchase food in your
community and to research costs at these retailers for select staple items. With
your original partner, pair up with another set of students and complete the
handout. Then compare answers with the rest of the class. What surprised you about
your community, food costs or other information you researched?
- Where
do you think the closest food desert to your school/community is? Write your
prediction. Then go online to the United States Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Food Desert Locator . When you enter the locator, you will see a
map of the United States with food deserts highlighted in red. A food desert is
defined on the site as a “low income census tract where a substantial number or
share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store (at
least 33% of the population resides more than one mile from a grocery store or
more than 10 miles for a rural census tract). Share an observation with a
partner about the patterns on the national map. Are they concentrated in a particular
part of the country? In urban areas? Rural areas? Do any patterns emerge?
Compare observations with another group of four.
- Enter
your school’s address into the locator and see if you were correct about the
food desert closest to your school. Click on the area highlighted in red to see
information about the Food Desert, including the number and percentage of
people with low access; the poverty level and the number and percentage of
people without a vehicle. What story does the statistics tell?
- Divide
into two groups, one to brainstorm about the causes of food deserts and the
other to brainstorm about the consequences. You can find additional information
in the sites/reports listed above. The causes group should think about why
supermarkets, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants might build or
develop in a certain area; how geography and distance play a role; why a
business may not want to build in a certain neighborhood; economics; and
demographics. The consequences group should think about personal, economic,
national, health-related and social consequences. Each group should present to
the other, with the opposite group adding any new information.
- Pair
up with two or three other students from your group to form a smaller group.
Imagine that you and your group have been assigned one of the tasks below to
assist those who live in the closest food desert to your school. Or refer back
to the ideas you generated earlier in the lesson to see if you’d rather use one
of those. In order to complete your task, you will need to research information
about the neighborhood or community. Try to learn economic and racial
statistics, along with other distinguishing factors of the community.
Task 1: You have
been asked to present information to a large grocery chain that would persuade
them to build a supermarket closer to the food desert you have selected.
Information could be about the community itself, including the number of
children; general health/wellness statistics; the benefits to the supermarket
of building here; and common good that a supermarket can bring to a community.
Task
2: You have
been asked to come up with an idea, other than a standard grocery
store/supermarket, that could give those in the food desert you’ve selected
access to healthy and affordable food. Write a white paper describing your
idea, what would have to happen to make the idea a reality, any related costs
and why you think it would work in this community.
Task
3: You have
been asked to design an education
campaign to help those who live in the food desert understand the importance of
eating healthy foods and tips for accessing healthy foods and selecting
affordable healthy foods when on a budget. - Present
your project—justifying how you think it could help the food desert you have
identified—to the class.
- Finally, go back to the statements you heard at
the beginning of the lesson and determine if you feel the same or if your
opinion has changed. Justify your answer using what you’ve learned in the
lesson.
Extension Activity
As a class, select one
(or more) of the project ideas relating to food deserts that you could truly
implement. Design a plan that could turn the idea into a reality, identify the
stakeholders and implement the plan.
Standards for
Activity Exchange (TT40)
Activities address the following standards using
McREL 4th Edition and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts .
McREL
Language Arts
Standard 4: Gathers and
uses information for research purposes
Standard 7: Uses
reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of
informational texts
Standard 8: Uses
listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
Civics
Standard 9: Understands
the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and
principles of American constitutional democracy
Standard 11:
Understands the role of diversity in American life and the importance of shared
values, political beliefs, and civic beliefs in an increasingly diverse
American society
Standard 14:
Understands issues concerning the disparity between ideals and reality in
American political and social life
Standard 25:
Understands issues regarding personal, political, and economic rights
Health
Standard 2: Knows
environmental and external factors that affect individual and community health
Standard 6: Understands
essential concepts about nutrition and diet
Mathematics
Standard 1: Uses a
variety of strategies in the problem-solving process
Standard 6: Understands
and applies basic and advanced concepts of statistics and data analysis
Common Core State Standards
for English Language Arts
Speaking and
Listening
Comprehension
and Collaboration
Standard 1. Prepare for and participate effectively
in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building
on other’s ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively
Presentation
of Knowledge and Ideas
Standard 4. Reports on a topic or text, tells a
story, or recounts an experience
Standard 6. Speaks in complete sentences when
appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or
clarification
Reading
Key Ideas and
Details
Standard 1. Asks and answers questions to
demonstrate understanding of a text
Craft and
Structure
Standard 6. Distinguishes their own point of view
from that of the narrator or those of the characters
Integration of
Knowledge and Ideas
Standard 7. Explains how specific aspects of a text’s
illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story
Writing
Text Types and
Purposes
Standard 1. Writes opinion pieces on topics or
texts, supporting a point of view with reasons
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Grade 6
- The
Number System: Compute fluently with multi-digit numbers and find common
factors and multiples.
- Statistics
and Probability: Summarize and describe distributions.
Grade 7
- Ratios
and Proportional Relationships: Analyze proportional relationships and use them
to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
- Statistics
and Probability: Draw informal comparative inferences about two populations.
