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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has utilized the term food desert to highlight regions within low-income communities located far from fresh and healthy sources of food such as supermarkets and farmers markets. Most research on food deserts has revolved around urban areas, which bring about other considerations such as sidewalks, pedestrian access, rideshares, and public transportation, typically not viable options in rural regions. Rural food insecurity is also a problem in North Carolina. Utilizing data provided by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Access Atlas, this paper explored if and to what extent rural food insecurity exists, with findings showing 1) a higher percentage of people living in rural areas live in food insecurity compared to non-rural areas 2) counties in the eastern part of the state are more prone to food insecurity and 3) racial, ethnic minorities, as well as the young (age under 17), are more subjected to food insecurity compared to the majority and older cohorts. This research highlights the need for a rigorous and comprehensive understanding of rural food security that transcends the economic, cultural, and sociological reasons of differential food access with long-term health outcomes that have multi-generational consequences. 

Abstract. This paper investigates the spatial differences in fresh vegetable spending in Guilford County, North Carolina. We create a geo-coded spatial-temporal database for both human factors and natural factors to understand why food deserts have become a serious issue in a county with many farming activities. We find that residents living in food deserts do not buy enough fresh vegetables compared with their counterparts, even when they are shopping at full-service grocery stores. Social-economic factors are most sensitive and are important determinants of fresh food demand. Using an agent-based toy model, we find that fresh vegetable demand in each census tract in Guilford County varies to a large extent. The results suggest that the formation of food deserts may root from the demand side.