Stuck In Portland Without Any Groceries

"When getting to market takes this much effort, epidemiologists consider it a threat to our collective health. Where we live determines where we buy food, which influences what we eat, factors into whether we're fat and can seal whether, someday, we get diabetes or have a heart attack.

Low-income and minority families, prone to obesity and dietary-related diseases, are also more likely to live in communities where nutritious food is hard to come by, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports. These are otherwise known as "food deserts." Nationally, the typical low-income neighborhood has 30 percent fewer supermarkets than higher-income neighborhoods.

Parts of outer Northeast Portland popped out as having particularly poor access to food when the Coalition for a Livable Future analyzed grocery store locations using 2004 data.

'You have people literally living off of Plaid Pantries [a local convenience store],' says Brendan Finn, chief of staff to Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Office of Sustainable Development."