Hundreds of thousands of people across South Carolina live in communities where access to supermarkets or large grocery stores is beyond reach. In agricultural terms, such areas are called “food deserts” – communities where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain. Dave Lamie chairs the SC Food Policy Council, which co-hosted a meeting where city, charity, retail and education officials met to discuss ways to decrease food deserts across South Carolina and how healthy environments can drive economic development. The U-S Department of Agriculture defines urban food deserts as low-income census tracts where people live more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store. A map of them shows one is located in 96.3/WGOG’s listening area in a corner location of southeast Oconee, near the Anderson and Pickens lines.
