A first-of-its kind online map developed by Florida's Department of Agriculture shows where the so-called "food deserts" are in the state — areas that have few or no mainstream grocery stores.
The online program, dubbed "Florida's Roadmap to Living Healthy," launched Thursday. While it is available to anyone with Internet access, it's intended for food banks, churches, non-profits and other policymakers trying to get food into the hands of hungry people.
By using Geographic Information Systems, or GIS technology, to view data, users can look at statistics from a statewide view right down to street level. Other statistics can be layered in, such as where the existing food banks and USDA farmers markets are located, the number of food stamp benefit recipients in a certain ZIP code and even data on diet-related deaths such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam announced the launch of the website Thursday during a hunger relief forum in Bradenton. The forum, which was sponsored by the Mosaic phosphate company, was attended by food bank workers and other policymakers in the west-central Florida region.
"It is not in Florida's best business interest to have an unhealthy population," he said. "This tool is an opportunity for all of us to really apply 21st century tools to an age-old problem."
Putnam said his employees used a similar tool to determine where the recipients of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program are located, and how many of those people lived near Summer Break Spots — a state program that feeds children during the summer months.
In Florida, the state's agriculture department oversees school nutrition.
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According to Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity, there are 3.1 million "food insecure" people in Florida. Food insecurity is defined by the USDA as "consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year."
A Harvard School of Public Health study released earlier this week showed that Americans' eating habits have improved — except among the poor. Researchers said it was evidence of a widening wealth gap when it comes to diet.
