The Fifty One

The traditional definition of the term "food desert" leaves out ethnic markets, which means these small food havens are also often left out of policy discussions and support programs. In this episode Amy Roost joins us to explore these markets as an integral part of the solution to food access in many neighborhoods, and the importance of culturally appropriate food options in immigrant communities.

In the first episode of our first season, Civil Eats contributing editor Twilight Greenaway joins us to talk about the complexities of food access and how it relates to everything from urban planning to poverty to structural racism and sexism. This season we've partnered with local reporters across the country to explore what food access looks like for women in their communities.

Check out complementary stories to this season on damemagazine.com and civileats.com.

Support this project here: https://www.damemagazine.com/support-our-work/

In each season of DAME Magazine's The 51, we'll take a national issue and explore what it looks like for women living in communities throughout the country. In season 1, we're tackling food deserts. Back in 2011 when Michelle Obama announced The Healthy Food Financing Initiative, the goal was to eliminate food deserts—parts of the country where residents have no access to fresh produce—in seven years. That would be now. And yet the country is still full of food deserts. Together with local reporters and advocates we'll look at what it's like to live in a food desert, why there are still so many, and what's being done about it.