Question
MICHELLE OBAMA: Right now, there are 23.5 million Americans, including 6.5 million children, who live in what we call food deserts in the inner city and in rural communities. TOM VILSACK: Lots of different definitions of food deserts, but most people basically say it's a place where there is not access, easy access, affordable access, reasonable access
00:00:22
to fresh fruit, vegetables, to a grocery store. DONNA GAMBRELL: We see a preponderance, for example, of convenience stores and fast food restaurants, but very little healthy food options for those residents. TOM VILSACK: We are at the Fairhill Elementary School in Philadelphia. We're focused on a tremendous program that they have here to reduce childhood obesity
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in this school, and also to encourage fresh food and healthy eating. MICHELLE OBAMA: Our goal is ambitious. It's to eliminate food deserts in America completely in seven years. Tackling the issue of accessibility and affordability is key to achieving the overall goal of solving childhood obesity in this generation.
00:01:04
And we saw this example today during our visit to the fresh grocer at Progress Plaza. The last supermarket that was in that community closed more than 10 years ago. There were kids in that community who couldn't get the nutritious food that they needed during some of the most formative years of their lives. This is happening all across the country.
00:01:29
We're setting people up for failure if we don't fix this. With a modest initial investment of about $400 million a year, we're going to use that money to leverage hundreds of millions of more from private and nonprofit sectors to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to under served communities all across this country. If you can do it here, we can do it around the country.
00:01:53
So let's move. That's really the point. If we know it can be done, let's move. Let's get it done. Let's give our kids everything they need and everything they deserve to be the best that they can be. Thank you so much.
According to the video, how can food deserts be eliminated in America? Why is this important?
00:00:22
to fresh fruit, vegetables, to a grocery store. DONNA GAMBRELL: We see a preponderance, for example, of convenience stores and fast food restaurants, but very little healthy food options for those residents. TOM VILSACK: We are at the Fairhill Elementary School in Philadelphia. We're focused on a tremendous program that they have here to reduce childhood obesity
00:00:43
in this school, and also to encourage fresh food and healthy eating. MICHELLE OBAMA: Our goal is ambitious. It's to eliminate food deserts in America completely in seven years. Tackling the issue of accessibility and affordability is key to achieving the overall goal of solving childhood obesity in this generation.
00:01:04
And we saw this example today during our visit to the fresh grocer at Progress Plaza. The last supermarket that was in that community closed more than 10 years ago. There were kids in that community who couldn't get the nutritious food that they needed during some of the most formative years of their lives. This is happening all across the country.
00:01:29
We're setting people up for failure if we don't fix this. With a modest initial investment of about $400 million a year, we're going to use that money to leverage hundreds of millions of more from private and nonprofit sectors to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to under served communities all across this country. If you can do it here, we can do it around the country.
00:01:53
So let's move. That's really the point. If we know it can be done, let's move. Let's get it done. Let's give our kids everything they need and everything they deserve to be the best that they can be. Thank you so much.
According to the video, how can food deserts be eliminated in America? Why is this important?
Answers
GPT-5 mini
How, according to the video
- Define the problem: a food desert is a place without easy, affordable access to fresh fruit, vegetables and a grocery store.
- The proposed solution: a coordinated effort to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers into underserved urban and rural communities. Specifically, the plan calls for a modest federal seed investment (about $400 million a year) to leverage hundreds of millions more from private and nonprofit partners to open supermarkets/fresh grocers and support local healthy‑eating programs (for example, school initiatives like the one at Fairhill Elementary).
Why this matters
- It affects millions: the video cites about 23.5 million Americans (including 6.5 million children) living in food deserts.
- Health and opportunity: improving access and affordability to healthy food is central to preventing childhood obesity, giving children proper nutrition during formative years, reducing health disparities, and setting communities up for long‑term success rather than “setting people up for failure.”
- Define the problem: a food desert is a place without easy, affordable access to fresh fruit, vegetables and a grocery store.
- The proposed solution: a coordinated effort to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers into underserved urban and rural communities. Specifically, the plan calls for a modest federal seed investment (about $400 million a year) to leverage hundreds of millions more from private and nonprofit partners to open supermarkets/fresh grocers and support local healthy‑eating programs (for example, school initiatives like the one at Fairhill Elementary).
Why this matters
- It affects millions: the video cites about 23.5 million Americans (including 6.5 million children) living in food deserts.
- Health and opportunity: improving access and affordability to healthy food is central to preventing childhood obesity, giving children proper nutrition during formative years, reducing health disparities, and setting communities up for long‑term success rather than “setting people up for failure.”