this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
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A Boring Dystopia
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"Food deserts" exist. For some, Walmart is their only grocery store within a reasonable distance.
I never really thought about walmart having groceries.
The USDA says a food desert is where a store is 1 (ONE!) mile away in urban settings.
The fuck? A mile? You mean a ten to 15 minute walk?
Edit: To be clear, I am complaining not about the distance or the time, be accessibility, it should be a 15 minute walk, but it American areas could be accross 10 lanes, or along busy roads. Accessibility to everything can be a pain in the ass and there should be walkable, bikeable, or transportation options. Nevermind just the groceries.
If you are too poor to afford a car, or have a medical reason as to why you can't drive, accessing fresh and health food is a monumental challenge that can wipe out hours of your day.
My closest grocery store is 3 miles away. By bus, it's a 30-60 minute trip one way because it involves a transfer; miss the connection and you're waiting 30 mins. By bicycle it's a 15 minute trip. If I am walking it, It's taking me an hour. The best part is the closest store is much smaller than those further away, (in the suburbs,) and they leave molded fruits and vegetables out hoping people won't notice. Quality of food is trash there. Don't have a bike, can't afford bus, spend 2+ hours of your day trying to obtain healthy food.
The next closest is 5 miles away, and also involves a bus transfer. It's a 30 minute bike ride in heavier traffic, and I am walking one and a half hours to 2 hours one way. Quality of food there is also questionable, but better than the closest store. Don't have a bike, can't afford bus, spend 3+ hours of your day trying to obtain healthy food.
My preferred store to shop at is 10 miles away. It's on a bus route that doesn't involve a transfer and would take 30 minutes via bus, 1 hour via bike, and several hours if I attempted to walk to it. Don't have a bike, can't afford bus, spend nearly a work day trying to obtain healthy food.
There are corner stores a 15 minute walk from me, (Stewarts.) Most of the food there is processed, (Frozen pizza, frozen microwave meals, ice cream, chips, meat jerky, cookies, candy.) I think they have pasta and sauce in the jar. Fresh items I have access to there are eggs, cheese, sour cream, bacon, milk, and bread which is often stale. Sometimes they have a few bananas, potatos, tomatos, or lemon/lime, but most of the time when I go there, they happen not to be in stock. I can access flour and sugar there also, but the prices are way worse than the grocery store. Don't have a bike, can't afford bus, spend 30 minutes of your day obtaining shit food and pay a higher premium for it.
I love being blamed for being obese when poverty forces shitty food prices an choices upon me. Good news, I'm losing weight because I'm skipping meals. Thanks poverty.