Hi-Line 'food deserts' being studied

Opportunity Link Inc. has received a $25,000 grant allowing it to take a look at the availability of food in remote areas throughout north-central Montana.

Communities are being surveyed on topics such as food security, food access and availability, and community food production resources, a press release from Opportunity link reads.

One of the aspects of the data collection is looking for communities where residents are more than 10 miles from a food source. This includes places such as Liberty County and Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation.

If a rural community is more than 10 miles from a food source, it is labeled as a "food desert." In urban communities this number is lowered to more than one mile away and includes certain sections of Great Falls.

Once the information is gathered, a plan will be made to address any issues.

"The funding from USDA will help Northcentral Montanans assess and plan to determine a course of action for overcoming food barriers," the press release reads.

A Food System Advisory Council will be formed to assist with data collection, community buy-in and the creation of planning strategies.

Michael Stone, the program assistant at Opportunity Link, is heading the project.

"Right now, what I'm working on is accumulating a lot of data," Stone said.

Stone said he is using information from the U.S. Census to create databases and maps that will help find the disparities in locations' access to food. The census recorded how long people travel to work, but did not record how long they have to travel to get to a food source.

Stone said that deciding what constitutes a food source varies, but what they are looking for is how far people have to travel to find fresh food, as opposed to processed food. This would disqualify some gas stations as food sources.

"Basically, all of Rocky Boy is food desert," Stone said. He said they would have to look into what Gramma's Grocery in Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation offers to make sure that is valid.

Other factors such as food banks and soup kitchens play into what makes a food desert as well.

Stone said one of things he is pushing for the most is to create a Food Council. He is looking for people from the food desert areas and people who can represent different areas of food production, like distributors and producers.

"I'm really looking for people who are going to be good representatives of their communities," Stone said.

The council would meet twice throughout the project in person and four times electronically to discuss possible remedies to the food deserts.

Anyone interested in taking part in the council may contact Stone at 265-3699 or by email at mstone@vibrantfutures.org.