EATING FOR LIFE: Fast food and liquor are easier to find than fresh fruits and vegetables in some parts of the nation's capital. Through an eight-day serial narrative, a team of journalists examines why food deserts exist and what can be done about them. (Video intro by Makula Dunbar/Howard University News Service)
Part 1: The grocery gap has helped to create food deserts in Washington. In the first installment of our nine-part daily series, Kendra Desrosiers explains why some residents trade fresh produce for high sugar and high salt.
Part 2: For some families, it's hard to buy nutritional food — or even to buy food at all. And if they live in Southeast Washington, Nicole Austin reports, they might be paying 30 cents to $3 more for grapes, milk, bread, cheese and meat than residents in Columbia Heights.
Part 3: Shopping can be quite hectic for residents who live in food deserts with spotty access to healthy food, and especially for those who rely upon public transportation. Simone Pringle, who is one of them, has also included a map of healthy food sites and their proximity to the Metro system.
Part 4: Osteoporosis, certain cancers, Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, heart diseases, high-blood pressure and stroke all have one thing in common — they stem in part from unhealthy eating habits. Sophia Adem writes that 50 percent of Washington residents are obese or overweight, placing them at risk for diet-related diseases, which are leading causes of death.
Part 5: Whether it's soul food or delicacies from other countries, "culture is going to affect certain behaviors — what we eat, the amounts we eat and how we share," said Jules Harrell, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Howard University. By Crystal Cranmore.
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