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Where America Cannot Eat Food Deserts — USDA Food Access Atlas
Real Gov Data — USDA Food Access Research Atlas

Where America Cannot Eat

Using USDA Food Access Research Atlas data, this project maps where America cannot eat. 16.1 million Americans live more than a mile from a supermarket in low-income areas. The racial disparity is stark: Black Americans face food desert rates of 10.8% vs 5.2% for White Americans. Native Americans average 5.8 miles to the nearest store — 4.1x farther than White Americans. Mississippi is the worst state at 11.8%.

Python SQL USDA Atlas pandas matplotlib seaborn SQLite
Summary: Using USDA Food Access Research Atlas data, this project maps where America cannot eat. 16.1 million Americans live more than a mile from a supermarket in low-income areas. The racial disparity is stark: Black Americans face food desert rates of 10.8% vs 5.2% for White Americans. Native Americans average 5.8 miles to the nearest store — 4.1x farther than White Americans. Mississippi is the worst state at 11.8%.
Key Findings
Worst state — Mississippi
11.8%
Total low-access pop
16.1M
Black vs White disparity
10.8% vs 5.2%
Native Am avg store dist
5.8 miles
SNAP households
12.5% avg
USDA urban definition
>1 mile + low income
Charts & Analysis
States by Food Desert Rate
USDA Food Access Atlas
States by Food Desert Rate
Racial Disparity in Food Access
Who bears the burden?
Racial Disparity in Food Access
Urban vs Rural Food Access
Both face different challenges
Urban vs Rural Food Access
SNAP vs Food Desert Rates
Correlation by state
SNAP vs Food Desert Rates
Food Desert Burden Map
Size = SNAP enrollment
Food Desert Burden Map
Native American Food Crisis
5.8 miles to nearest store
Native American Food Crisis

Data Source

USDA Food Access Research Atlas — https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/
All data is real, publicly available government data. Free to download and verify independently.