AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Recent statistics show that about 1 million Georgia residents have limited access to a full-service supermarket, many of whom live right here in Augusta.
In fact, Golden Harvest Food Bank says food deserts exist in nearly every one of the 25 counties it serves, in both rural and urban areas.
Disparities in access to grocery stores are growing in Georgia, according to an analysis by the Georgia Reinvestment Fund, which attributes this to the state’s rapid population growth.
Krystyna Szczepanski of the Reinvestment Fund said people were increasingly moving to rural and urban areas where resources were scarce.
“Retail is lagging behind,” she said, “and it will take grocery stores and other types of retailers a much longer time to catch up.”
By definition, United States Department of AgricultureA food desert means that people in urban areas have to travel more than a mile to a grocery store for fresh food, compared to 10 miles in rural areas.
In Augusta, having to take multiple buses just to get fresh food was a reality for neighbors in Harrisburg and Rainey Walker.
Some of them are: Veggie Park Farmers Market at the Community Innovation Hub It’s on Chaffee Avenue.
Every week, between 200 and 400 people wander through the HUB, browsing the fresh food options.
Also, Georgia Healthy Food Program.
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