Food deserts—if you’ve lived in Athens for any extended time, you’ve heard this term tossed around and likely have a vague concept of what it means. Officially, the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as “a substantial share of residents who live in low-income areas that have low levels of access to a grocery store or healthy affordable food retail outlet.” Food deserts have been a hot topic locally dating back to the downtown Walmart debate a few years ago, and more recently with talk of a grocery store coming into one of the new mixed use developments under construction downtown. A large number of Athens residents live in these areas—55,334 to be exact (based on data from the … Continue reading Athens Food Deserts: For Many, Access to Healthy Food Has Dried Up