Is Food Privilege Real?

By: Lauren Anderson

The answer is YES.

The placement of well-stocked grocery stores versus corner stores/bodegas that sell a few apples and bananas in urban, predominantly black and brown cities is striking. Why is it that in “richer” areas, you can go pass by a tai chi studio, cold-press juice bar, a Whole Foods and a holistic shop on one street? Why do the financially elite enjoy stress-free exercises and nasty, over-priced juice while the ones at the bottom have multiple fast food restaurants within 1 mile of their home? The answer is privilege, my friend.

For many people that wish to lose weight and change their diet, the most obvious step to follow is to eat lean, clean, healthy meals. This includes foods with no hydrogenated fats, artificial sweeteners, colors or preservatives. You also need to take the welfare of animals you eat into consideration, and also eat organic, non-GMO food. Why? You’re putting good into your body while contributing to the improvement of the environment. Sounds lovely! Except, this diet change is not inclusive to everyone.

In urban areas, food deserts, which are defined as parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually in poor areas of the country. Crime, violence, drugs, etcetera play a role in why grocery stores are rare in inner cities. We are constantly reminded that black people are more likely to suffer from diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure than other races and poor nutrition is a contributor to all of those causes. In fact, white neighborhoods have an average of four times more supermarkets than primarily black neighborhoods.

Access to better foods and proper nutritional knowledge is the solution. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association gathered that price, access to healthy foods, and education plays a role in food disparity. “Nutritional knowledge, which is strongly related to education level, is likely to play a role in the adoption of healthful dietary habits, and better nutrition may be a lower priority for economically disadvantaged groups, who have many other pressing needs.” The study also highlighted that the significant price difference between healthy and unhealthy food.

I don’t mean to demonize major health stores because some of them are attempting to make a difference in food value in urban areas. For example, in 2013, Whole Foods opened a store in Midtown Detroit, an area filled with 3 university campuses, a medical complex, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, and multiple museums; the ideal spot for hipster, vegan liberals to bask in culture. As a Detroit native, I was not impressed because I know from experience that my family would not approve of substituting kale and peanuts for collard greens with neck-bones or fried chitlins with a spicy aioli aka mayonnaise and sriracha with a dash of cayenne pepper .In fact, I am almost certain that would walk in there and call it “white people sh*t”. One Detroit woman, Toyoda Ruff, said “It’s kind of intimidating to go in there and shop. I just walked around, but a lot of the stuff didn’t appeal to me.” She was impressed by the array of food but thought the salad bar, café, juice bar, and samples were excessive.

The Midtown Whole Foods fought the “white people sh*t” stigma by trying to fight racism and elitism in this healthy food, which is the reason they placed the store there in the first place. The CEO of Whole Foods visited Detroit and planned to “bridge the gap of food access between rich and poor.” The store began offering classes on how to shop in the store on a budget taught by employees who attend city council meetings and create outreach programs. The class taught people that how to read the labels that read no high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives; MSG and GMOs and what that stuff actually means.

After a year of the store’s grand opening, the sales from the food stamp program, SNAP, were five to six times the chain’s average, meaning that they had successfully reached the “poor”.

After reading this article in Slate, I wondered what would the urban areas be like if there were more 

health options and if gentrification is actually a good thing. It brings revenue to the cities that could 

potentially be used in outreach programs that affect lower class citizens. I honestly think we should 

keep putting Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Sprout’s in the hood just so that people can have the option 

if they please. Providing knowledge to those that don’t have the interest to look up what GMO stands 

for and giving the sense of compassion in the community can drastically help with choice in diet and 

budgets. 

Whole Foods in Midtown Detroit that was built to help combat the food insecurity crisis in the inner city.