For those in food deserts, grocery shopping can be a hassle

There was a time when all Devon Rutherford had to do to find groceries was to walk out the door. Now it takes two buses and a good chunk of her day.

Rutherford, 28, of Bridgeport, usually starts her voyage from the Ralphola Taylor Center on Union Avenue near her children's school. Like many city residents, Rutherford has no car and doesn't live within walking distance of a supermarket.

So, twice a month, she makes the hike to the International Farmer's Market on Main Street to get the groceries she needs for herself and her two children -- a 2-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. She pays $1.75 and boards the bus at Stratford Avenue that takes her to the bus station in downtown Bridgeport. Then, she gets another bus that drops her near the market.

Her voyage isn't an uncommon one among Bridgeport residents, said Kristin duBay Horton, the city's director of health and human services. A large number of people in the city live in "food deserts," areas not served by a major grocery store where they can buy fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods.

"Food deserts" are a nationwide phenomenon. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, about 23.5 million people in the country live more than a mile from a grocery store.

That includes Rutherford, a petite, outgoing woman from Jamaica who lives on Dover Street off of Boston Avenue. There is a butcher shop within walking distance of her home where she shops for most of her meat, but getting general groceries requires more effort. Her two options for a grocery store are the International Market or the Price Rite on Boston Avenue, both of which require her to take the bus. The bus ride -- which can take as long as 45 minutes -- was tough to get used to, Rutherford said. Until a few years ago, she lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., and had a market within walking distance.

"At first, it was hard," she said. "But I learned the bus route and got used to it. You do what you've got to do."

Desert or Swamp?

In the city, duBay Horton said there are two main food deserts -- the East End, where Rutherford lives, and the area surrounding Trumbull Gardens apartments in the North End. For many residents of those areas, the nearest grocery store or supermarket is a $13 cab ride or 45-minute bus ride away. "We have these areas where people simply can not eat healthy," duBay Horton said.

Many nutrition advocates believe poor access to food stores can lead to higher rates of obesity and other health problems.

Both nationally and locally, these areas have been associated with higher rates of obesity. Earlier this year, Bridgeport released the results of its Community Allied to Reach Health Equity study, a survey that asked about 1,707 city residents questions about their health habits. The study showed that 37 percent of Bridgeport adults and 25 percent of Bridgeport children were obese and that 71 percent of Bridgeport adults were either overweight or obese. Statewide, 59.8 percent of Connecticut residents are overweight or obese. Within the city, duBay Horton said, obesity is highest around the food deserts.

Nobody is certain how these deserts developed, but duBay Horton and others suggested it's part of the natural evolution of businesses.

In Bridgeport, duBay Horton said the food deserts likely resulted from smaller food establishments, like butcher shops and dairy stores, moving out of the neighborhoods. Many of these areas, she said, can't accommodate "big box" grocery stores because they're too densely populated. duBay Horton said it costs anywhere from $6 to 7 million to bring in a new supermarket.

However, areas under-served by grocery stores are often well-served by bodegas or corner stores that predominantly sell unhealthy items, like chips and soda. Given this phenomenon, "food desert" is something of a misnomer, said Katie Martin, assistant professor in residence in the University of Connecticut's Department of Allied Health. "I use the term `food swamps,' " she said. "It's not as if there's not food in these regions. It's just that it's not very healthy."

Shopping made uneasy

Rutherford has gotten used to the bus, but that doesn't mean she loves her twice-monthly trips to the store. It's usually crowded and often packed with young people who "can be really loud and vulgar," she said. She got lucky during a recent trip, when the bus was filled with older people who didn't make any trouble. In fact, it was a smooth trip in a lot of ways. Both her buses showed up quickly, and the voyage to the market took a mere 30 minutes. Rutherford was also traveling solo, which always makes shopping easier. "When I go by myself, I can usually be done in a half hour," she said. "With the kids, it's another story."

Of her two grocery options, Rutherford chose the International Market, mainly because it offers rides home to customers who spend more than $100. With two young mouths to fill, that goal is easy to reach, but Rutherford tries not to go too far above that, as she has a fairly limited budget.

Rutherford is unemployed, though she's working toward a career as a medical assistant. Her father brought her to the Virgin Islands from Jamaica when she was 13. She moved to New York when she was 18 and lived there for five years before moving to Connecticut to raise her children. She has struggled to find a job since moving to Connecticut and relies on food assistance to feed her family. She feeds her family with the $526 a month she receives for groceries. On this trip to the market, her purchases included plantains, a starchy vegetable popular in tropical climates, as well as grapes and strawberries. She also bought a lot of food staples, including a 10-pound bag of rice which, if she's lucky, will last into next month.

She likes to splurge on Grace brand canned corned beef, which, at the International Market, costs a whopping $6.99 a can.

"I can't help it," Rutherford said. "I just love it."

When she's done, Rutherford's purchases total $140.76 -- definitely enough to qualify her for a shuttle ride home. The shuttle's driver, Marlene Bryant, is a familiar face to her, and, on the way back to Rutherford's apartment, they banter about children, education and pets. It's definitely a better way to travel than the bus, particularly when lugging bags and bags of groceries.

"If I had to go on the bus with all this? Oh no!" Rutherford said. "It's just too much of a hassle."

Eliminating the obstacles

Indeed, the prospect of dragging their groceries back home on the bus can prevent people who live in food deserts from buying everything they need, duBay Horton said. She said she wasn't aware of the International Market's shuttle service, but thinks it's an excellent idea. She's been working on ways to remove transportation barriers for desert dwellers. For instance, duBay Horton said, she's hoping to collaborate with Stop & Shop to expand their Peapod home delivery service, in which customers can order groceries online free of charge, to more residents. She'd also like to see some regulations that would make it more difficult for stores that don't sell healthy foods to get licensed in the city.

Earlier this year, the Partnership for Healthier America, in collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" effort to end childhood obesity, launched a program to expand access to healthy foods in urban areas. Over the next five years, the initiative is expected to bring nutritious, affordable food to 10 million more people by adding grocery stores throughout the country. A number of chains are participating, including Walgreens and Walmart.

Eliminating food deserts, however, won't necessarily improve obesity rates in an area, experts say. Martin said obesity is a multi-faceted problem.

"There are families who have grocery stores right next to them," she said. "That doesn't mean they feel the need to buy the healthy food there, or that they know what to do with it."

But duBay Horton said, while that might be true, fixing the deserts is an important first step.

"People need access," she said. "If you can't fix the food desert, you can't fix the obesity problem."