2 Chapter 2: Wading Through Food Swamps: An Exploration of its Causes, Impacts, and Future Implications

By Maggie Chen

Introduction to Food Swamps and Food Justice

Six o’clock hits, and your body signals that it’s time to eat. Where should you eat? What should you eat? For many, the answers to these questions vary day-to-day. Maybe one day you prepare a chopped salad at home, and another day, you get take-out from a local restaurant. Unfortunately, not all communities have the same access to these options. Rather than being able to choose from a variety of foods at the grocery store, or being able to choose which restaurants they eat at, some people must turn to fast food chains and limited grocery stores (Cooksey-Stowers, 2017). In such instances, these communities are living in areas known as food swamps.

Food Swamps, or “areas with a high-density of establishments selling high-calorie fast food and junk food, relative to healthier food options,”  illustrate a key aspect of food justice (Cooksey-Stowers, 2017, p. 1). Food justice, as defined by Jackson in the introduction to this collection, is a “movement that recognizes that food sovereignty, health, and sustainably produced food are rights, not privileges.” Often, food swamps disproportionately impact communities of color and immigrant communities, exacerbating historical and structural injustices (Odoms-Young & Bruce, 2018).

These injustices accumulate to create environments that include high levels of neighborhood disorder. Neighborhood disorder refers to an area where there are greater proportions of vacant buildings and higher crime rates, creating environments that businesses view as risky to build in (Mui, 2017a). Within these disinclined businesses, healthier food outlets are included, leaving food swamp communities more vulnerable to food-related diseases (e.g., obesity, diabetes, strokes) and limited in their ability to practice food sovereignty (Freeman, 2007). In any community, and especially immigrant communities, food represents more than just sustenance— it represents connection to home, culture, and identity (We Don’t Waste, 2024). When these communities live in food swamps, these connections are severed, further highlighting the need for food justice.

In the following chapter, I will outline the background and history of the environment that led to the creation of food swamps, followed by the disproportionate impact of food swamps on immigrant communities and communities of color. Finally, I will conclude the chapter with two necessary components for bringing food justice to areas impacted by food swamps.

Defining the Social & Built Environments

Food swamps are not created through a singular act; rather, it is an accumulation of historical policies and institutionalized practices that create social and built environments attractive to unhealthy food establishments (Freeman, 2007). e.g.

The social environment includes physical aspects (e.g., industrial and occupational infrastructure), social relationships (e.g., power and race relations), and cultural aspects (e.g., the arts, religious institutions) “within which defined groups of people function and interact” (Barnett & Casper, 2001, p. 465). Intertwined with this definition, the built environment is “the man-made or modified structures that provide people with living, working, and recreational spaces” (EPA, 2025). These definitions serve as a background for the rest of the chapter, as food swamps are a product of the social and built environments. Though they are broad in concept, defining these environments is integral in understanding the mutually reinforcing relationship between food swamps, the environment, and historical influences.

History and Variables of Social & Built Environments

Neighborhood Disorder

One of the largest stakeholders in the creation of a food swamp is neighborhood disorder— a manifestation of the social environment. Neighborhood disorder is a framework that tries to measure physical and social indicators, such as high “crime, vandalism, noise, abandoned buildings, and other incivilities” (Mui et al.,  2017a, p. 76). Of these indicators, measurements of vandalism and noise can be quite subjective, revealing a flaw in this framework. However, these public perceptions are more influential than one might realize (Ndjila, 2019). For example, recent work has shown that inner city neighborhoods with high neighborhood disorder instill “a sense of fear and danger” to prospective businesses, who assume they would need more staff and security (Mui et al.,  2017a, p. 76).

This correlation clearly has underlying tones of racism, which can be explained by historical and persisting stereotypes. In a census-based study done in Chicago, research revealed there is a historical association of “concentrated poverty” in areas with higher minority groups (Sampson, et al., 2005, p.7). To this day, this association persists in racial stigmas around “modern urban ghettos”, which people link “with poverty…and visible signs of disorder” (Sampson, et al., 2005, p.7). In turn, these associations lead to institutional disinvestments, causing neighborhoods to fall into ‘disorder’ without sufficient funding or resources. If these associations linger and people begin to move out of these areas, “the mechanisms that link race and disorder” are reinforced, creating a positive feedback loop (Sampson, et al., 2005). Thus, it is clear racist associations bleed into public perceptions, a key component of the social environment that sets the stage for food swamps.

Building Vacancies

Another stakeholder in food swamp creation is the state of physical structures, a factor of the built environment. Particularly, the presence of vacant buildings or homes has a clear impact on the food environment of residents (Mui, et al., 2017b). For Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which has a high building vacancy rate, research found that boarded-up vacant homes overshadow positive neighborhood attributes, creating a roadblock in attempts to improve the “image or overall success of the community” (Garvin, et al., 2012). In relation to the food environment, this roadblock signals to store owners that the location is in decline, causing larger food outlets (i.e. supermarkets with more healthy food varieties) to look elsewhere (Mui, et al., 2017b).

However, vacancies are not a fault of residents; rather, vacancies can be strongly attributed to one phenomenon: white flight. White flight took place when white families relocated after people of color began moving in. In certain areas, such as the South Shore neighborhood in Chicago, white flight meant the population shifted from being 96 percent white in 1950 to being 96 percent black in 1980 (Voegeli, 2020). Drastic demographic changes like this took place across the country, causing neighborhoods to undergo complete transformations that included drops in property values, increases in taxes, and diminished public services (Fraga, 2024).

Though white flight ended around the 70s, its negative impacts persist in communities today. In fact, a longitudinal study done in Baltimore, Maryland found that “the association between vacant homes and food swamps differed by whether or not a neighborhood was predominantly African American” (Mui, et al., 2017b, p. 12). Clearly, the built environment is closely tied to historical racial injustices, bringing food justice back to the center of the food swamp issue.

How People Factor into Food Swamp Creation

While implied, it is important to explicitly acknowledge that while people have influence on their social and built environments, the people are not the issue when it comes to creating food swamps.

Historical events (e.g., white flight), lasting racial stereotypes (i.e., around neighborhood disorder), and policies (e.g., supermarket redlining), are the true crux of the matter. Supermarket redlining is similar to residential redlining, as it is “based on perceived ‘urban obstacles’, including racial segregation” (Jiang, et al., 2023, p. 1857). However, the difference here is that chain supermarkets move into less affluent neighborhoods, driving out local groceries that often provide more affordable and healthy foods (Jiang, et al., 2023). Clearly, a common thread connects these three issues— structural racism.

Structural racism, whether through explicit practices or otherwise, systemically disadvantages communities of color by allocating less time and resources into building a healthy food environment (Singleton, et al., 2023). In doing so, the social and built environments are no longer controlled by those who live there, but rather by factors beyond their control. When these residents, who often lack the capacity (e.g., time, funding, resources) to fight for better food options, they are left in food swamps.

Impact of Food Swamps

In the following section, I will outline the implications of food swamps, including how it disrupts cultural implications around food and creates barriers to food sovereignty.

Disruption of Cultural Implications

To redefine, the food swamps are “areas with a high-density of establishments selling high-calorie fast food and junk food, relative to healthier food options” (Cooksey-Stowers, 2017, p. 1). While this definition is succinct, it begs the question: What do these establishments, and specifically supermarkets, look like? As mentioned earlier, supermarkets in these areas push “smaller local groceries out of business”, which may include Asian and specialized grocery stores (Jiang, et al., 2023, p. 1857). Today, Asian grocery stores make up less than one percent of the US grocery business— a statistic food swamps likely contribute to (Krishna, 2024). These grocery stores are a cornerstone of immigrant communities, functioning both as an outlet for cultural ingredients and as centers for gathering, community, and socialization for Asian Americans (Krishna, 2024).  When supermarket redlining takes over and food swamps ensue, Asian grocery stores disappear and immigrant communities lose these connections to their culture and community.

In many immigrant communities, food also conveys love in ways that words cannot; however, the ingredients to these cultural dishes are not widely available in food swamps. In turn, they must turn to the ‘ethnic aisle’ of chain supermarkets, an ambiguous area that attempts to stuff several cultures into one space (Krishna, 2021). In creating environments where these ‘ethnic aisles’ are the sole providers of cultural ingredients, food swamps severely limit the ability for immigrant communities to access and cook culturally significant foods. Thus, these communities are forced to change their diets in response to shifting environments (Briones, et al., 2017). However, changing diets is not so easily done. For example, research done with resettled refugees illustrated “difficulties in navigating the new food environment and preparing unfamiliar foods” (Briones, et al., 2017). A rippling effect ensues, as navigation difficulties create new barriers to food security (Briones, et al., 2017).

Clearly, food swamps create cultural implications for immigrant communities, whether it be through severing community connections or dietary desires.

Barriers to Food Sovereignty

The concepts of food sovereignty and food security go hand in hand. To start, food sovereignty can be defined as the right of people to self-determination as it relates to food production and consumption (Noll & Murdock, 2019). In a similar vein, food security means “ensuring that people have economic and physical access to safe and nutritious food” (Noll & Murdock, 2019). Without secure access to nutritious food, communities inherently lose the ability to have food sovereignty— and a positive feedback loop ensues.

Food swamps often set off this loop. These areas present an unequal ratio of unhealthy food outlets to its healthier counterparts, limiting a community’s ability to choose what they eat and cook. Thus, the food people enjoy eating, want to be eating, and have access to do not align. For impacted communities, and especially communities of color, this misalignment causes a chain reaction of issues.

Of the issues caused, impacts on well-being arise as a prominent one. When communities experience food insecurity, it takes a toll on their mental health and life satisfaction (Kornher & Sakketa, 2021). In turn, this can hurt people’s physical health and ability to work. For communities of color, these triggered impacts are particularly pronounced because of the persisting “gap in the prevalence of food insecurity between people of color and whites” (Odoms-Young, 2019). As mentioned previously, this concept materialized in a study with resettled refugees, who found having to navigate new foods made food less appealing (Briones, et al., 2017).

Through this chain reaction, the lack of food sovereignty underscores it all. People would not be stuck in the negative impacts of food insecurity if they had the freedom to choose what they eat. Food swamps, food security, and food sovereignty build off each other, creating a tangled mess of issues that disproportionately impact communities of color.

Mitigation of Food Swamps

To conclude this chapter, I will present two key ideas on how communities and organizations can help mitigate the impacts of food swamps.

Mitigation begins with a community-based approach. To truly yield long-lasting, effective results, community members must be involved and the solutions must be tailored to the context of each neighborhood. In doing so, residents are able to regain control of their food environment and work towards achieving food sovereignty. For example, in Atlanta, GA, researchers took a community-based approach to mitigating food swamps— and it proved quite effective (Rollins, et al., 2020). More specifically, the study found that working with community members and business owners nurtured trust, credibility, and partnerships that increased “healthy food access and improved community health” (Rollins, et al., 2020, p.1). In short, community involvement develops a space where mitigation efforts are actually based on what the needs of the residents, rather than assumptions.

Realistically, completely eradicating food swamps will not happen. Thus, it is integral that mitigation efforts utilize existing infrastructure to their advantage. Convenience stores are often in high abundance in food swamps, and many residents rely on them for daily purchases (Dennisuk, et al., 2011). Thus, these stores present a feasible starting point to mitigation. In the aforementioned study done in Atlanta, the researchers explored what a “Healthy Corner Store Initiative” would look like across 5 communities, which would entail offering fresh produce and healthier foods (e.g. whole-grain bread, low-sugar alternatives) (Rollins, et al., 2020). In their research, they asked corner store customers if they would purchase these foods if offered— and 80 percent said they would (Rollins, et al., 2020). While this study was concentrated in Atlanta, similar studies done in Baltimore City and New Orleans proved to have mirroring results (D’Angelo, et al., 2011; O’Malley, et al., 2013). On top of this, these studies reemphasize that the people are not at fault when it comes to food swamp creation. Taking advantage of the existing infrastructure directly addresses the built environments that lead to food swamps— moving communities closer to food justice.

Conclusion

Food swamps present a complex yet pressing issue of food justice. Historical injustices and structural racism create social and built environments that invite food swamps, and lasting racial stereotypes perpetuate their existence. They exist primarily in immigrant communities and communities of color, meaning that these communities are disproportionately impacted by its harms (e.g. food-related diseases, disruption of cultural implications around food, more barriers to food sovereignty). To shift communities away from food swamps, we must begin by acknowledging the fact that affected people are not the issue. In doing so, we can address the structural injustices through community-based approaches and utilization of existing infrastructure.

Throughout this chapter, many of the sections overlap and connect in different ways. Although this interconnectedness may appear abnormal, it actually serves to show the mutually reinforcing relationship between food swamps, the environment, and racial injustices. This relationship is complex, and presents challenges in understanding the full scope of food swamps as it relates to food justice. While I do not touch on all of the causes and impacts of food swamps, this chapter attempts to address, acknowledge, and inform more people on food swamps in hopes that it advances food justice.

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