Food swamp

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A food swamp is an urban environment with an abundance of several non-nutritious food options such as corner stores or fast-food restaurants. The term was coined in 2009 by Donald Rose and his colleagues at the University of Michigan in a report on food access in New Orleans.^[1] The concept is actively growing in its application and usage in research due to its novelty.^[2]

The concept is comparable to that of a food desert. It is generally believed that those in a food desert have poor local access to nutritious food sources, while those in a food swamp have few grocery stores but easy local access to non-nutritious food.^[3] However, areas that have adequate access to healthy food options while still having an overwhelming amount of unhealthy food available are also considered food swamps.^[4] Food swamps may even be more widespread that food deserts, as suggested by some research, or overlap with food deserts as they exist in various regions around the world.^[5][6][2]

One definition gives a general ratio of four unhealthy options for each healthy option.^[7] The term was first coined by researchers conducting longitudinal studies of the link between increased access to grocery stores and rising obesity rates.^[8] This study found that even with new access to local grocery stores, the proportion of convenience stores and fast food to a single grocery store did not shift food choices nor obesity rates. This indicates a distinction between food swamps and food deserts. According to researchers, food swamps are better measures for obesity rates.^[2] Food swamps are associated with varying health outcomes across different demographic groups, with Black and Brown communities experiencing disproportionately poorer health indicators.^[2][7]