Sen. Head has introduced SB 15 which attempts to improve the availability of fresh and unprocessed food in locations where such food is not readily available. The bill defines “food desert” as “an area where, within a five (5) mile area, fresh or unprocessed food accounts for less than ten percent (10%) of the food inventory for the area.” The division of nutrition and physical activity within the Indiana State Department of Health is charged with developing criteria for awarding grants to assist new and existing businesses in offering fresh and unprocessed foods within a food desert. The bill would also appropriate $1 million for the grants.
This is an aside to the main point of Sen. Head’s efforts, but I will say that writing legislation to describe areas like this bill has done is surprisingly difficult. How do you define that five mile area? Lets say you pick a point, draw five square miles around it (I assume we’re talking square miles — the legislation doesn’t say that.) Is it just that point that’s a food desert? Or is any place in that square part of the desert? What if there are copious amounts of fresh food available 20 feet away from the edge of the initial square? Is that edge, nevertheless, part of the food desert? It’s one of those things that seems easy at first but gets a lot tougher as you try to write it down.
As to the substance of Sen. Head’s efforts, it seems like a laudable goal. Access to fresh food is a good thing.
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