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.
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