Living In A Food Desert

"Seventy-nine-year-old Claire Sherman has never driven a car. Growing up in Providence, where she worked as a jewelry press operator for 33 years, she took the bus. Or her husband drove.

Sherman and her family moved to South County 11 years ago to get away from the bustle of the city. In 2001, her husband, a shellfisherman, died.

Living on Social Security, with no driver’s license, no car and no nearby bus line, Sherman found that one of her most basic needs — healthy, fresh food — was nearly out of reach.

Sherman is living in a food desert.

Researchers at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences have been studying the availability of food in urban areas — such as Providence — where fast food and gas station markets are easier to come by than grocery stores."