In a disturbing story coming out of a Williamsburg living room, 28-year-old Felicia Hammond is hungry for dinner, but doesn’t have any groceries and doesn’t want to go outside.
Unfortunately, examples of food deserts like this in US cities have become all too common.
“Having limited access to good, nutritious food is really hard,” Felicia, who lives within walking distance of two Whole Foods and three Trader Joes, told reporters. “Without readily available groceries in my apartment or the motivation to pause my show, get off the couch, and go to the 24-hour fruit stand directly across from my building, my options are severely limited.”
How is a person supposed to survive –– let alone thrive –– with barriers such as these?
Though she lives in a newly constructed luxury apartment complex in the most gentrified area of Williamsburg, Felicia has found herself having to make some hard decisions when it comes to finding something to eat for dinner.
“What, just because I didn’t feel like going grocery shopping earlier and am now too snuggled in blankets on my couch to move, that means I have to choose between eating a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips or two plain tortillas that I forgot I had? Nobody should be forced to make this kind of decision…”
According to experts, Felicia technically resides in what is known as a “food oasis” –– an area with greater than average access to restaurants and grocery stores with fresh and nutritious food. Beyond that, they also confirmed that Felicia has a can of vegetable soup in her pantry and three clementines in her refrigerator.
Felicia responded to this divulgence, saying, “It’s just so much work to pour the soup into the pot and heat it up… Plus, peeling clementines makes my hands all sticky and the peels go everywhere!”
In spite of her less-than-ideal food situation, Felicia has managed to overcome the barriers of living in a food desert and scrounge up something tolerable for dinner.
“Takeout from L’Antagoniste!” she said. “Ugh, my delivery person is on foot? It’s going to take them 10, or even 15 minutes to get here!”
Living in a food desert may have taken its toll on Felicia, but she continues to prove that through strength of character, resilience of spirit, and plats du jour money, one can overcome anything.