A self-conducted case study into food deserts in the Denver area, predominantly in lower-income neighborhoods. (ICYMI a food desert is an area where fresh, quality groceries are unavailable or unaffordable.
The challenge 💪
The challenge presented is to try to find a design-prominent solution to address food deserts in the Denver area, especially highlighting the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. As a side note, this is not a new topic – it is a revisit of a previous design research project done at university, primarily due to a better understanding of my own privileges and biases.
The team 👥
The team is only myself in this instance, affordable and quality food a particular interest of mine in the search for some kind of equality in areas that are infrastructurally left out of the same opportunities other neighborhoods get. For context, I am lucky to be from an area where no such thing is an issue and grocery stores and farmer markets are abundant; no one should be eliminated from similar access. This is a personal belief and potential bias in my work.
The research 🔍
Research was conducted on-site in several immediately available food-centric stores that would ideally be within walking distance of homes (1 mile). This included primarily gas stations, fast food restaurants, and local restaurants when available. Further research was conducted using sources such as local news sites and the USDA website to help gain more concrete statistics outside of observation.
ERS USDA map of Denver Elyria-Swansea and Globeville areas highlighting low income and low access areas to fresh, quality foods.
Pain points 💥
There are several pain points for the target demographic here: those residing in areas classified as food deserts. The primary pain point is a lack of grocery stores, not only on a small local level but also larger well-known grocery chains with the infrastructure and budget to more easily bring in fresher foods. Another pain point, as referenced by the USDA, includes income. If fresher foods are available at certain locations, they are not within a reasonable price range, especially if one keeps in mind feeding a family as compared to an individual. As represented by the USDA food desert atlas, the average income of these areas is on the lower end, correlating to the lack of corporations willing to put in larger grocery stores. The final pain point focused upon is time. It takes time to prepare a meal with fresher, potentially uncooked foods as compared to a prepared meal from a restaurant, time to plan a meal, and time to shop and pick out groceries.
You can purchase a small fruit cup or sandwich for $3.99 or you can get a large bag of chips or a few candy bars for the same price. Notice how the fresher selection is shorter on stock and variety as well.
Previously attempted solutions ❌
This is not a new problem to the city or the nation; food deserts are nearly 6% of the population in the US as documented by the USDA food desert research atlas. It is good to acknowledge that Denver and local organizations have attempted to address this problem already and mention their efforts. There are instances of fresh mobile food markets (such as Any Street Grocery launched in 2015 but has since become defunct), or grants available from the city through the Healthy Food Challenge (also defunct). There has yet to be any long-lasting solution that has made a genuine impact save for the nonprofit GrowHaus, established in 2011, but it alone has not helped eliminate the area as a food desert.
Denver's Healthy Food Challenge site is a 404 error, and Any Street Grocery website is no longer available.
Proposed solution ✔️
An ideal solution would be to entirely address infrastructure or to entice larger grocery chains to the area. However as I am going forward with a design-only solution in an attempt for a single person to make a change, the proposed idea to this challenge is an easy site to sign up for cheap(er) groceries at a low shipping cost that primarily features the “ugly” rejects that supermarkets often will refuse to sell. This will not only reduce food waste substantially but may be sourced from within Colorado’s grocery stores themselves to keep the platform local and reduce delivery time and costs for the freshness to be retained. The website would not be subscription-based such as other food box models (Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, etc), and deliveries would include recipes to use with the seasonal fruits and vegetables. Providing this access to fresh, quality food straight to someone’s door will help greatly reduce the time needed to go to a far-off store and choose groceries, especially if individuals may not have their own vehicle or need to rely upon public transportation. With the knowledge that not all have internet access, the site was designed mobile-first as 85% of adults in the US have reported owning smartphones according to Statista.
