Healthy food is hard to find in D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods

Food Desert


Healthy food is hard to find in D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods.



The big sign outside of McDonald’s advertises Big Mac’s for $2. Want a meal with fries and a large drink? Then it’s just a mere $4. A couple of doors down from McDonald’s is a liquor store, a 24-hour convenience store and Yum’s Carryout. Across the street is a Domino’s Pizza, another liquor store and Danny’s Sub Shop and Chinese takeout.



This one stretch of block is a snapshot of food options in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 7. Located on the northeast side of the nation’s capital, Ward 7 is littered with fast food restaurants, convenience stores and carryouts. There is one sit-down restaurant – Denny’s.



The area’s more than 70,000 residents rely on two grocery stores, both Safeways, to serve their needs. A 2008 Grocery Gap Analysis by D.C. Hunger Solutions, an initiative created by the Food Research and Action Center to improve the health and well-being of low-income residents in Washington, deemed Ward 7 a “food desert.” The report defines food deserts as areas that lack access to sufficient full-service grocery retail.