4 ms·

Rural living here: I always find the conversations around 'meal planning' or just trip planning in general fascinating. We're 30-45 minutes away from the neare

Rural living here: I always find the conversations around 'meal planning' or just trip planning in general fascinating. We're 30-45 minutes away from the nearest store, let alone grocery store or supermarket. We make 1 trip every 2 weeks to stock up on groceries, and often plan the entire month in advance. We grow and can our own vegetables, because fresh vegetables are too far away and don't store as well long-term. The push for meal planning, I'm now realizing, is weird to me because we've always done that. That it is a function of the physical space I occupy has never occurred to me.

novaRom 7y ago
Where do you live? 45 minutes is like 50-100 km up to a nearest store?
- sp332 7y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert In 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 23.5 million Americans live in "food deserts", meaning that they live more than... 10 miles from a supermarket in rural areas.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    That's not really the definition of 'food desert' that I think about when I hear the term. I always figured it applied more to super-poor city dwellers. 10 miles in a rural area is nothing. Like, I'm 10 miles from the nearest town right now, and that feels pretty close.
    - Loughla 7y ago
      I'm with you on that 10 miles is nothing. I would love to have a store within 10 miles - that's biking distance even. But to me - because food deserts have a larger impact on low-income folks, I think about it in their context. If I didn't have access to a reliable form of transportation, 10 miles would be a super long way to have to travel.
      - esotericn 7y ago
        Right. I mean it's basically that the distance here is defined quite strictly when it really depends on the individual. I could be 200km from the nearest grocery store, and it'd just mean I need to stockpile a bit more, because as you say, assuming there are roads etc, I can jump in the car whenever and go there. By contrast someone who's poor and severely disabled might feel they're in a 'desert' if the nearest store is 200m away and they can't walk.
- esotericn 7y ago
  I just spent 3 weeks living in a small village. There was a grocery store in the town. The next one was, as you say, 50-100km away. If you lived in one of the smaller villages around here, it would be 50-100km to the store, yeah. City dweller nonsense about how it's oh-so-inconvenient to wait N minutes extra for food delivery is just funny in this context. Bunch of babies, I tell ya. :P
  - kaybe 7y ago
    Are there no farmers selling fresh produce anywhere around? I'm so used to these drive-by honesty stores (take what you want - usually vegetables, fruit, eggs, milk, honey etc - and pay in the box) in rural areas.
    - esotericn 7y ago
      Not in the winter!
- Loughla 7y ago
  Midwest US. It's right at 40 miles from my door to the store, so like 65km?

novaRom 7y ago

Where do you live? 45 minutes is like 50-100 km up to a nearest store?

sp332 7y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert In 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that 23.5 million Americans live in "food deserts", meaning that they live more than... 10 miles from a supermarket in rural areas.
- esotericn 7y ago
  That's not really the definition of 'food desert' that I think about when I hear the term. I always figured it applied more to super-poor city dwellers. 10 miles in a rural area is nothing. Like, I'm 10 miles from the nearest town right now, and that feels pretty close.
  - Loughla 7y ago
    I'm with you on that 10 miles is nothing. I would love to have a store within 10 miles - that's biking distance even. But to me - because food deserts have a larger impact on low-income folks, I think about it in their context. If I didn't have access to a reliable form of transportation, 10 miles would be a super long way to have to travel.
    - esotericn 7y ago
      Right. I mean it's basically that the distance here is defined quite strictly when it really depends on the individual. I could be 200km from the nearest grocery store, and it'd just mean I need to stockpile a bit more, because as you say, assuming there are roads etc, I can jump in the car whenever and go there. By contrast someone who's poor and severely disabled might feel they're in a 'desert' if the nearest store is 200m away and they can't walk.
esotericn 7y ago
I just spent 3 weeks living in a small village. There was a grocery store in the town. The next one was, as you say, 50-100km away. If you lived in one of the smaller villages around here, it would be 50-100km to the store, yeah. City dweller nonsense about how it's oh-so-inconvenient to wait N minutes extra for food delivery is just funny in this context. Bunch of babies, I tell ya. :P
- kaybe 7y ago
  Are there no farmers selling fresh produce anywhere around? I'm so used to these drive-by honesty stores (take what you want - usually vegetables, fruit, eggs, milk, honey etc - and pay in the box) in rural areas.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    Not in the winter!
Loughla 7y ago
Midwest US. It's right at 40 miles from my door to the store, so like 65km?