America’s Food Landscape Has Changed – But Not Necessarily for the Better
A national study finds little progress reducing food deserts, with access still shaped by where people live and how they get around.
Where people live can shape how easy – or difficult – it is to find healthier food. Researchers examined how the U.S. retail food environment changed over two decades, looking at whether communities had access to grocery stores or were dominated by restaurants and fast-food outlets.
The study used data on licensed food retailers across the United States from 2003 to 2023 and mapped them to census tracts. Researchers classified areas as “food deserts” when they lacked healthy food retailers and as “food swamps” when restaurants and fast-food locations greatly outnumbered healthier retail options. They also compared rural and urban communities and looked at how transportation affects access to healthier food.
The picture changed little for food deserts – and worsened for food swamps. Using a distance-based measure (with a buffer of ½-mile), the share of census tracts classified as food deserts declined only slightly, from 6.1% in 2003 to 5.5% in 2023. During the same period, food swamps increased from 80.2% to 88.5%.
The gap was especially striking in rural areas. In 2023, 15.8% of rural census tracts were classified as food deserts using the distance-based measure, compared with 2.9% of urban tracts. Access also depended heavily on transportation. When researchers measured what people could reach within 20 minutes by public transit, food deserts were far more common than when access was measured by car – highlighting barriers faced by people without reliable private transportation.
The researchers also found that unhealthy food retailers grew much faster than healthy food retailers over the 20-year period. They argue that improving access may require strategies such as supporting grocery retailers in underserved communities and strengthening transportation connections to healthier food options.
The study focused on where different types of food retailers are located, rather than the specific foods sold or purchased. It also did not capture online grocery delivery, which may affect how some people access food today.
The takeaway: Over 20 years, the U.S. made little progress reducing food deserts while food swamps became more common. The findings suggest that where people live – and how they get around – can have a big impact on access to healthier food.
