LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Residents in northeast Lawrence are living in what experts consider a `food desert.’
Four adjacent census tracks in northeast Lawrence are designated a `food desert’ because the 18,000 residents living there have no nearby grocery store to provide fresh, healthy food. Many of the residents are low-income and have little access to transportation.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports the last grocery store north of the river closed in the mid-1990s.
While they are available only in warm months, the city has seven community gardens within or near food deserts. Also, two farmers markets now accept food stamps and most of Lawrence’s food pantries are in or near food deserts.
Advocates trying to get a grocery store to locate to the area say it’s a tough sell for grocery stores.
