I discovered the graphic above in a recent Slate.com article by Chris Wilson, Dinner at the Kwik-E-Mart: Food Deserts in America.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines food deserts as “areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet.”
One of the key lines of research and discussion that the SHP pursues is the degree to which “sustainable” methods can be measured. In fact, an important component of the working definition that we use includes the stipulation that “sustainability” must integrate methods of quantitative measurement, tracking, and evaluation.
U.S. Department of Agriculture provides a quantitative and accessible tool to evaluate food deserts in in specific counties throughout the country: The USDA’s Food Environment Atlas.
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Sustainability History Project 
Pretty powerful graphic. I grew up on the West coast so I’m not too surprised by the western half of the U.S.; there is a lot of open land out there.
What shocked me was the SE part of the U.S. Those states have enough population desity that I can’t imagine why they don’t have access to nourishing food. Looks like there are areas in Appalachia too which doesn’t quite surprise me as much. But I thought those southern states had decent crop land and lots of roads and small towns.
Any idea why they are food deserts? Have they always been or it it a recent problem?