Combating the Nutrition Crisis in the Southern United States

Welcome back to the third and final article of the Pregnancy Challenges: Nutrition, Race, and Food Deserts in the American South series, a three-part intersectional investigation of race, nutrition, and maternal health in the Southern United States. In our first article and second article, we discovered how the health of African Americans in the South today is a consequence of history. Higher rates of living in food deserts and eating unhealthy Southern foods are linked to their mistreatment in the past, and thus amplify their inequality in the modern day. In today’s article, we will delve into possible solutions for this group of Americans, and how they can nourish their growing babies despite their unfair circumstances on a smaller-scale.

Combating the Nutrition Crisis in the Southern United States

Health risks are higher among African American pregnancies than any other. In the first article, Race and Southern Food Deserts, we discovered that African Americans are more likely to live in food deserts, which are predominantly located in the South. In the second article, The History of Southern Food, we discovered that African Americans in the South are more likely to eat Soul Food, a cuisine that lacks nutrients and can lead to health problems. Solutions to the issues described in those first two articles must be generated in order to minimize health risks among African American pregnancies.

Food Deserts: Policy Change

As explained in the series’s first article, covenants preventing grocery stores from establishing themselves caused many of the food deserts we see in urban areas across the South and the United States in general.1 So while these covenants are no longer in place, their consequences still exist. In urban food deserts today, high taxes scare off grocery store chains from buying property in cities. One solution to the food desert crisis would be to provide tax incentives to these chains for opening stores in low access and low income areas. The 2021 Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act proposed that companies who construct new grocery stores in food deserts would receive a 15% tax credit, and companies retrofitting existing stores would receive a 10% tax credit.3 This incentivizes companies to set up grocery stores in food deserts. Unfortunately, the act was never passed by Congress, likely due to budget concerns, but similar bills could be proposed.

Photo by iStock

Another proposed solution that involves policy change is expanding the amount of people who can qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).6 The idea is that more people living in food deserts would be able to afford more nutritious foods. While this may solve fiscal accessibility challenges that some families in food deserts face, it does not solve the physical accessibility challenge of food deserts. Providing people more money to buy groceries does not make those grocery stores any closer to their homes.

Food Quality: Coastal Traditions Over Soul Food

The series’s second article explains how enslaved West Africans utilized cooking techniques from their homelands to create dishes with American ingredients in the coastal Carolinas. Unfortunately, many of the ingredients, specifically different types of Carolina rice, and cooking techniques were lost over time. One farmer out of South Carolina is trying to change that. In 1998, farmer Glenn Roberts founded Anson Mills, a rice farm dedicated to growing the endangered crops of the Antebellum period, including Carolina Gold and heirloom grains. These ingredients were and are used to make lesser known Southern dishes like Hoppin’ John, made with rice and black eyed peas, and Limpin’ Susan, made with rice, okra, and bacon. These dishes, unlike the fried cuisine of the Deep South, are nutritionally balanced. While Soul Food is widely regarded as the food of the South, these rice dishes are no less traditional, and for pregnant people in the South, they are the preferred option to minimize health risks.

Carolina Gold Rice Crop. Photo by Baian Liang.

Food Deserts and Food Quality: Implementation of Home and Community Gardens

One solution that addresses both food deserts and food quality is the creation of home and community gardens. Growing fresh produce locally improves the quality of nutrition for the community who eats it, and means that citizens living in food deserts do not have to go to grocery stores far away for healthy fruits and veggies. For handicapped or disabled people who cannot access grocery stores far away anyways, community or home gardens are their best option for fresh produce. Many community gardens, like DC UrbanGreens in our nation’s capital, even accept SNAP and WIC grants as payment options.2 To begin a community garden in your neighborhood, follow these steps:4 

1. Gather support in your neighborhood. It isn’t a community garden without a community, and the more people invested in its success, the better. 

2. Reach out to your local government. They may be able to organize and/or fund the creation of the community garden.

3. Find land for the site, and find out who owns it. If the land belongs to the city government, they may be able to help you transform it into your community garden. Keep in mind the site’s location. 

4. Find sponsors. While the government may be able to fund the garden, having extra money to buy supplies is beneficial, especially during the garden’s first few years.

5. Plan the garden layout, and open it to the community. It’s important to design your garden to fit the needs of the community. 

Keep in mind that it is possible to start a community garden without the help of local governments, but it will require more effort on your part to contact landowners, sponsors, and set up the site. 

Photo by Zbynek Pospisil

Home gardens are a great option to combat food deserts on an even more localized scale, and may not require the level of effort a community garden requires to start. To begin a home garden, follow these steps:5 

1. Consider what to plant. Do some research on what plants grow best in your geographical area. 

2. Choose the best spot in your yard for the garden. Most vegetables require full sun, so keep that in mind when you choose. If you don’t have a backyard, you can set up your home garden in pots on a porch or in a window sill. 

3. Clear the ground and prep the soil. You’ll want to get rid of any weeds, and till the soil so that water and nutrients can easily penetrate it. 

4. Buy seeds and begin planting them. Pay attention to any directions that come with the seeds. 

5. Water and Mulch. Your plants need water every day to thrive, and mulch prevents unwanted weeds from growing.

6. Enjoy your homegrown produce!

In The Meantime

All of the solutions discussed thus far are large-scale and involve fixing the crises of food deserts and food quality for African Americans in the South at their source. But what should pregnant women in the South be doing while they wait for these changes to be made? For pregnant people living without access to grocery stores, there are still nutritious options available. Our article Making the Most of a Food Desert explores healthy options within convenience stores, such as frozen fruits and veggies, canned tuna and beans, and oatmeal. It also links food delivery services like Amazon Fresh and Misfits Market that eliminate the need for transportation to buy fresh and nutritious foods.

Moving Forward

All these potential long term solutions and temporary solutions could alter  pregnancies and birth outcomes in the South for the better. With access to more fresh produce at shorter distances, African American women in the South will have a better chance at a healthy pregnancy.

References:

1. Leslie C. Food Deserts, Racism, and Antitrust Law. California Law Review. Published December 2022. https://www.californialawreview.org/print/food-deserts-racism-and-antitrust-law

2. Epatko L. D.C. urban gardens bring low-cost, fresh produce to city’s food deserts. PBS NewsHour. Published November 24, 2016. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/urban-gardens-grow-residents-devotion-in-dc

3. Warner Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Increase Access to Nutritious Foods, Help Eliminate Food Deserts. Mark R. Warner. Published February 3, 2021. https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/2/warner-introduces-bipartisan-bill-to-increase-access-to-nutritious-foods-help-eliminate-food-deserts

4. How to Start a Community Garden in Your Neighborhood. See What Grows. Published June 20, 2014. https://seewhatgrows.org/start-community-garden-neighborhood/

5. Beck A. Follow These 10 Steps to Create a Magnificent First Garden. Better Homes & Gardens. Published May 17, 2022. https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/ten-steps-to-beginning-a-garden/

6. Alexis AC. Food Deserts: Causes, Effects, and Solutions. Healthline. Published June 14, 2021. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-deserts#solutions