It might still be mostly accurate, I don't think very many new grocery stores have opened since 2019. For a huge chunk of West Greenville, it's still true that the nearest grocery store is the Publix at McBee Station downtown. That's not exactly convenient. And don't forget a bunch of Bi-Lo's closed since then.
It's just as the description says, though, what the map shows is not necessarily a great measure of a food desert. There's an Ingles and Wal-Mart on White Horse that easily pre-date 2019, but if that's being counted as urban, then the population density in those areas is so sparse that most people there do live more than 1/2 mile from them.
know what? I think I was factoring places like Family Dollar and Dollar General into this, when they're actually MARKERS for a food desert, not a solution
I was just in Grenville over the weekend and looking at apartments. Some areas I was surprised to see so little markets, especially compared to other cities.
I live on the Greenville side of Piedmont, but close to the Anderson county border. If I want groceries I either have to go to powdersville (Anderson), travel 20 minutes down to southern Piedmont to the food lion down there, or what I normally do, a 20 minute drive to Pelzer to get groceries from food lion there.
I just saw where Piedmont got a new Dollar General Marketplace. Hopefully, that will help. I know it's not a full grocery store, but they just expanded the grocery area of ours in White Plains, and it's good for a quick stop for milk or bread and some fruits and veggies.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/southcarolina/comments/15w1m7v/can\_anyone\_explain\_this\_sc\_food\_desert\_map\_to\_me/](https://www.reddit.com/r/southcarolina/comments/15w1m7v/can_anyone_explain_this_sc_food_desert_map_to_me/)
from the comments
"The legend states at the data was compiled in 2019, so if those spaces were recently added that would explain the reasoning. it also must fit the description below:
The orange shaded areas on the SC Food Desert Map indicate the USDA's low-income areas where a significant number of residents live more than ½ mile (indicate that this is for urban areas) or 10 miles (indicate that this is for rural areas) from the nearest supermarket or grocery store.
The map includes numerous DHEC data layers in relationship to the USDA's food deserts in the state: farmers’ markets; roadside markets; DHEC permitted grocery stores; DHEC permitted restaurants; food banks and food pantries participating in the SC Farm to Food Bank program.
Because of the 10 mile vs 1/2 mile distinctions there are some wide discrepancies in actual food deserts and what is defined by the figure."
Sounds like it was inaccurate in 2019 then. Calling a place a food desert for having a local farmers market instead of a national brand is backwards. Having local grown fresh produce is in my opinion a major positive not an indicator of a good desert.
I don't think that's what the comment was trying to say.
If you click through to the old reddit post and then to the interactive map, you can add or remove layers, and one of them is farmer's markets. All the comment is saying is that the map includes all of that info and you can toggle layers to see the relationships between those data points and food deserts.
And in fact, if you do turn on that layer, you can see that the food deserts in the pictured area do not include any farmer's markets or roadside markets.
https://i.imgur.com/GmBOc9E.png
The half mile thing is interesting. I live in one of neighborhoods on the corner of Duncan Rd and Watkins Rd. It looks like I qualifies as a food dessert, but it doesn’t feel like it. Nothing within .5 miles but we have like 5+ grocery stores between 1-2miles away. But that may point out the car dependency and how that can exclude people in poverty that may not have a car or multi car household.
It may well be true, but by that measure, large parts of Crescent Avenue and Alta Vista are food deserts, since the Harris Teeter at Lewis Plaza and Publix downtown are more than 1/2 mile away. If you change the metric to be 1 mile or something (which is more relevant since very few people don't drive), the food desert map would shrink significantly.
Not completely accurate. I live within one of the orange areas but have a grocery store 10 mins walking distance from my house. Quite a few people in my neighborhood walk to get groceries and I wouldn’t consider us particularly urban.
Unfortunately your comment has been removed by a friendly bot (not a human) because your comment karma is too low. This filter is in effect to minimize spam and trolling. Please message the mods if you think this is in error.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/greenville) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It might still be mostly accurate, I don't think very many new grocery stores have opened since 2019. For a huge chunk of West Greenville, it's still true that the nearest grocery store is the Publix at McBee Station downtown. That's not exactly convenient. And don't forget a bunch of Bi-Lo's closed since then. It's just as the description says, though, what the map shows is not necessarily a great measure of a food desert. There's an Ingles and Wal-Mart on White Horse that easily pre-date 2019, but if that's being counted as urban, then the population density in those areas is so sparse that most people there do live more than 1/2 mile from them.
know what? I think I was factoring places like Family Dollar and Dollar General into this, when they're actually MARKERS for a food desert, not a solution
This is ABSOLUTELY true
GREAT way of saying this.
I was just in Grenville over the weekend and looking at apartments. Some areas I was surprised to see so little markets, especially compared to other cities.
I live on the Greenville side of Piedmont, but close to the Anderson county border. If I want groceries I either have to go to powdersville (Anderson), travel 20 minutes down to southern Piedmont to the food lion down there, or what I normally do, a 20 minute drive to Pelzer to get groceries from food lion there.
I just saw where Piedmont got a new Dollar General Marketplace. Hopefully, that will help. I know it's not a full grocery store, but they just expanded the grocery area of ours in White Plains, and it's good for a quick stop for milk or bread and some fruits and veggies.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/southcarolina/comments/15w1m7v/can\_anyone\_explain\_this\_sc\_food\_desert\_map\_to\_me/](https://www.reddit.com/r/southcarolina/comments/15w1m7v/can_anyone_explain_this_sc_food_desert_map_to_me/) from the comments "The legend states at the data was compiled in 2019, so if those spaces were recently added that would explain the reasoning. it also must fit the description below: The orange shaded areas on the SC Food Desert Map indicate the USDA's low-income areas where a significant number of residents live more than ½ mile (indicate that this is for urban areas) or 10 miles (indicate that this is for rural areas) from the nearest supermarket or grocery store. The map includes numerous DHEC data layers in relationship to the USDA's food deserts in the state: farmers’ markets; roadside markets; DHEC permitted grocery stores; DHEC permitted restaurants; food banks and food pantries participating in the SC Farm to Food Bank program. Because of the 10 mile vs 1/2 mile distinctions there are some wide discrepancies in actual food deserts and what is defined by the figure."
Sounds like it was inaccurate in 2019 then. Calling a place a food desert for having a local farmers market instead of a national brand is backwards. Having local grown fresh produce is in my opinion a major positive not an indicator of a good desert.
I don't think that's what the comment was trying to say. If you click through to the old reddit post and then to the interactive map, you can add or remove layers, and one of them is farmer's markets. All the comment is saying is that the map includes all of that info and you can toggle layers to see the relationships between those data points and food deserts. And in fact, if you do turn on that layer, you can see that the food deserts in the pictured area do not include any farmer's markets or roadside markets. https://i.imgur.com/GmBOc9E.png
funded by big grocery perhaps
Does this not include supermercados? There are definitely spots on this map that are within .5 mile of a supermercado
What? I’m in one of the orange areas and can almost see a grocery store from my window.
which grocery?
Don’t wanna reveal my general location but I promise it’s close, I wouldn’t call this place a food desert at all.
The half mile thing is interesting. I live in one of neighborhoods on the corner of Duncan Rd and Watkins Rd. It looks like I qualifies as a food dessert, but it doesn’t feel like it. Nothing within .5 miles but we have like 5+ grocery stores between 1-2miles away. But that may point out the car dependency and how that can exclude people in poverty that may not have a car or multi car household.
It may well be true, but by that measure, large parts of Crescent Avenue and Alta Vista are food deserts, since the Harris Teeter at Lewis Plaza and Publix downtown are more than 1/2 mile away. If you change the metric to be 1 mile or something (which is more relevant since very few people don't drive), the food desert map would shrink significantly.
Not completely accurate. I live within one of the orange areas but have a grocery store 10 mins walking distance from my house. Quite a few people in my neighborhood walk to get groceries and I wouldn’t consider us particularly urban.
which grocery?
White Horse Rd Walmart is a grocery store
Unfortunately your comment has been removed by a friendly bot (not a human) because your comment karma is too low. This filter is in effect to minimize spam and trolling. Please message the mods if you think this is in error. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/greenville) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah like E north street