“We had no access to healthy, fresh food. “We were without a store for more than two years,” says Berrios, whose family was used to food stands and stores within walking distance all over the city. Studies show this can contribute to a poor diet and can lead to higher levels of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. Department of Agriculture, between 25 -to-30 million Americans lack access to a grocery store, living more than a mile away in urban areas and 10 miles away in rural places.
When the one dilapidated grocery finally folded, leaving behind a leaky roof and a cracked parking lot, the area instantly became a food desert, one of hundreds of places across the country without access to fresh, healthy and affordable food. But that’s exactly what Lisa Berrios and Albert Rodriguez discovered years after moving to the mountain-bound village of Highland Falls. Newswise - A desert is not what you’d expect to find when you move an hour north of New York City.
