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> Every grocery store where I've shopped has yogurt with no added sugar. It's right there on the shelf, just look at the label. Large parts of the US are desig

> Every grocery store where I've shopped has yogurt with no added sugar. It's right there on the shelf, just look at the label. Large parts of the US are designated as food deserts, where one's best option for groceries might be the convenience store attached to a gas station. Good luck finding plain yogurt with no sugar added there. Your specific experience is exactly that. [1] https://ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-detail?chartId=74935 https://ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-deta...

nradov 1y ago
Food deserts do exist but appear to have no meaningful effect on eating habits. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growing-nutrition-gap-between-rich-and-poor-study-finds https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growi...
- vector_spaces 1y ago
  You made a claim that plain yogurt is generally available in US food markets, attempting to make an inference about grocery store selections drawing from your own experience. I pointed out that it is not actually generally available and noted that your experience does not generalize. I am not sure why you mention eating habits, since this is not what is being discussed
  - dragonwriter 1y ago
    > I pointed out that it is not actually generally available Actually, you pointed out that food deserts exist, and asserted that that meant that plain yogurt is not generally available, the thing you pointed out does not support the conclusion drawn from it.
  - seemaze 1y ago
    Food deserts appear to roughly correlate inversely with population density[0]. I don't interpret the existence of food deserts as evidence that food choice is not 'generally' available. Assuming we are serving people and not geographies. [0]https://vividmaps.com/us-block-level-population-density/ https://vividmaps.com/us-block-level-population-density/
  - maxerickson 1y ago
    People that live near gas stations drive to grocery stores for their groceries.
  - nradov 1y ago
    My claim was 100% accurate and my experience does generalize. Plain yogurt with no added sugar is generally available at the vast majority of supermarkets throughout the country. I have actually seen it in both poor and affluent areas all over. But you don't have to take my word for it. Instead of making things up you can literally just go look.
    - vector_spaces 1y ago
      Wow, 100% accurate? OK, I definitely can't argue with that. Nor I suppose can I argue much with overinterpreted anecdotes and absolutist analysis from a non-expert about a nuanced topic. You should start a Tiktok or a Substack or something, you are leaving money on the table.
kulahan 1y ago
Looking at your source, it seems as though food deserts exist almost exclusively when you're very far from civilization. In which case you can just grow the food.
- supportengineer 1y ago
  A good example of a food desert would be an inner-city neighborhood, the first time I heard this term, they were talking specifically about places in Oakland, CA. Which ironically is a short train ride away from the Food Mecca of the USA.
  - parineum 1y ago
    If it's a short train ride away, what's the qualifications fir food desert?
    - supportengineer 1y ago
      Here's a very detailed article https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/537685fafa614d80ac83a6085c4afba0 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/537685fafa614d80ac83a60...
      - parineum 1y ago
        > There are no set few factors, but some other influences that affect food deserts may include: mobility, existing health issues, working irregular hours, fast food culture, lacking adequate knowledge about nutrition, and many more. Seems like the qualifications are whatever they want them to be.
- vector_spaces 1y ago
  It actually says right at the top that overwhelmingly they are in urban areas
  - kulahan 1y ago
dragonwriter 1y ago
While I don't live in a food desert where these kind of stores are the only option, I have, in fact, regularly found plain yogurt in gas-station convenience stores, the even smaller refrigerated-food sections in urban drug stores, etc. Now, fresh produce, except—if you are very lucky—extremely expensive (for the quantity), relatively small packs of cut carrots and other things people might reasonably purchase as snacks, anything usable as a cooking fat excepted salted butter, and lots of other things, sure, you are going to be SOL, but plain yogurt (both the usually watery American kind and strained "Greek” yogurt) seems pretty common.
- vector_spaces 1y ago
  I have also found plain yogurt in gas station convenience stores My issue was less with the plain yogurt specifically and more with the logic of the parent, namely that "X product has been available in every grocery store I have shopped in" implies that "X product can be found in every grocery store"

nradov 1y ago

Food deserts do exist but appear to have no meaningful effect on eating habits. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growing-nutrition-gap-between-rich-and-poor-study-finds https://news.uchicago.edu/story/food-deserts-not-blame-growi...

vector_spaces 1y ago
You made a claim that plain yogurt is generally available in US food markets, attempting to make an inference about grocery store selections drawing from your own experience. I pointed out that it is not actually generally available and noted that your experience does not generalize. I am not sure why you mention eating habits, since this is not what is being discussed
- dragonwriter 1y ago
  > I pointed out that it is not actually generally available Actually, you pointed out that food deserts exist, and asserted that that meant that plain yogurt is not generally available, the thing you pointed out does not support the conclusion drawn from it.
- seemaze 1y ago
  Food deserts appear to roughly correlate inversely with population density[0]. I don't interpret the existence of food deserts as evidence that food choice is not 'generally' available. Assuming we are serving people and not geographies. [0]https://vividmaps.com/us-block-level-population-density/ https://vividmaps.com/us-block-level-population-density/
- maxerickson 1y ago
  People that live near gas stations drive to grocery stores for their groceries.
- nradov 1y ago
  My claim was 100% accurate and my experience does generalize. Plain yogurt with no added sugar is generally available at the vast majority of supermarkets throughout the country. I have actually seen it in both poor and affluent areas all over. But you don't have to take my word for it. Instead of making things up you can literally just go look.
  - vector_spaces 1y ago
    Wow, 100% accurate? OK, I definitely can't argue with that. Nor I suppose can I argue much with overinterpreted anecdotes and absolutist analysis from a non-expert about a nuanced topic. You should start a Tiktok or a Substack or something, you are leaving money on the table.

kulahan 1y ago

Looking at your source, it seems as though food deserts exist almost exclusively when you're very far from civilization. In which case you can just grow the food.

supportengineer 1y ago
A good example of a food desert would be an inner-city neighborhood, the first time I heard this term, they were talking specifically about places in Oakland, CA. Which ironically is a short train ride away from the Food Mecca of the USA.
- parineum 1y ago
  If it's a short train ride away, what's the qualifications fir food desert?
  - supportengineer 1y ago
    Here's a very detailed article https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/537685fafa614d80ac83a6085c4afba0 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/537685fafa614d80ac83a60...
    - parineum 1y ago
      > There are no set few factors, but some other influences that affect food deserts may include: mobility, existing health issues, working irregular hours, fast food culture, lacking adequate knowledge about nutrition, and many more. Seems like the qualifications are whatever they want them to be.
vector_spaces 1y ago
It actually says right at the top that overwhelmingly they are in urban areas
- kulahan 1y ago

dragonwriter 1y ago

While I don't live in a food desert where these kind of stores are the only option, I have, in fact, regularly found plain yogurt in gas-station convenience stores, the even smaller refrigerated-food sections in urban drug stores, etc. Now, fresh produce, except—if you are very lucky—extremely expensive (for the quantity), relatively small packs of cut carrots and other things people might reasonably purchase as snacks, anything usable as a cooking fat excepted salted butter, and lots of other things, sure, you are going to be SOL, but plain yogurt (both the usually watery American kind and strained "Greek” yogurt) seems pretty common.

vector_spaces 1y ago
I have also found plain yogurt in gas station convenience stores My issue was less with the plain yogurt specifically and more with the logic of the parent, namely that "X product has been available in every grocery store I have shopped in" implies that "X product can be found in every grocery store"