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Food Access is Health Access

Most health advice starts at the dinner table. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Cut back on processed food. Cook at home. It’s sound guidance, but it assumes a grocery store nearby, prices a family can afford, and a way to get there and back.

USDA considers a community to have “ready access” to food when there’s a grocery store within one mile in an urban neighborhood or within ten miles in a rural town. Across the Mid South, that standard doesn’t hold for many families. When it doesn’t, diet and health follow.

THE NUMBERS TELL A STORY

USDA data compiled by America’s Health Rankings shows how widespread the problem is. Between 2021 and 2023, Arkansas had the highest rate of household food insecurity in the country, at 18.9%, or nearly one in five households. Louisiana and Mississippi tied at 47th, each at 16.2%. The national rate was 12.2%.

Those same states appear near the bottom on diet-related health outcomes. In 2024, 40.4% of Mississippi adults had obesity, ranking the state 48th. Louisiana ranked 47th at 39.2%, and Arkansas tied for 45th at 38.9%. The national rate was 34.2%.

The connection between these numbers is not a coincidence. Food insecurity is linked to a higher risk of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. In children, it is associated with anemia, asthma, depression, anxiety, and problems with learning and behavior. When families can’t count on enough nutritious food, the effects show up in clinics, emergency rooms, and classrooms.

CLOSER TO HOME

Food access isn’t only a rural problem, though rural Arkansas has higher rates of food insecurity, obesity, and child poverty than the state’s urban areas. It also affects the region’s cities, including its capital.

Jackson has about one grocery store for every 11,000 residents. Nearby Clinton has one for every 8,900, and Byram has one for every 4,200. In Hinds County, nearly one in five residents is food insecure. When a store closes in Jackson, as the Food Depot on Northside Drive did in 2023, the neighborhood is often left with fast food and convenience stores but few places to buy fresh produce. Researchers call these areas food swamps: places where food is available but healthy food is not.

In these neighborhoods, “eat better” isn’t a matter of willpower. It’s a matter of distance, price, and whether the nearest store carries fresh vegetables.

WHAT OUR PANELISTS NAMED

During the Foundation’s The Weight We Carry webinar, public health leader Astria Goolsby described what stands between Mississippians and better health:

“There are systemic barriers such as rural access gaps, food insecurity, and environments not conducive to physical activity.” — Astria Goolsby, FMS webinar

Mental health clinician Dr. Damien Thomas added another layer. He explained how chronic stress changes the body’s hormones and reward pathways in ways that can lead to emotional eating. For families under constant economic pressure, limited food options and chronic stress reinforce each other.

Taken together, their points lead to the same conclusion: a region’s diet reflects the food system it has. You can’t close a health gap without addressing the food gap underneath it.

FOOD ACCESS IS ALSO AN ECONOMIC ISSUE

What ends up on the table is shaped by more than what’s on the shelf. Grocery stores open and stay open where they can sustain a business, and families eat well when they have steady income and room in their budgets. Where jobs are scarce and wages are low, both the stores and the shoppers feel it. That’s why food access can’t be separated from the broader economic conditions facing communities across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

WHERE THIS GOES FROM HERE

The main takeaway: food access is health access, and it looks different in each state. Arkansas faces the nation’s deepest food insecurity. Louisiana and Mississippi share high rates of both food insecurity and obesity. Cities like Jackson show that living near a grocery store isn’t guaranteed even in a state capital.

Closing the gap will take partners across sectors working together: communities, local businesses, health providers, schools, and policymakers. None of it will come from telling people to make better choices.

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