Design Sprint: Food Deserts

Collaboration with Design for America

Objective

Design a feasible solution that reduces or removes barriers that cause food insecurities.

Addressing the challenges of food deserts

A food desert is a geographic area with no/limited access to healthy and/or affordable food. 

Food deserts in poor communities are the result of income inequality, transportation challenges, and business apprehension to invest in areas deemed risky.

Primary Research

Interviewed three hunger experts in Cincinnati, Ohio to understand issues causing food insecurity and how communities become food deserts.

Secondary Research

Collected and reviewed articles and statistics relating to food insecurity in Cincinnati and across the U.S.

Synthesized information as a team to determine opportunities for the greatest impact and ways to solve them. 

Nutrition and Food Assistance Programs

Student Community Engagement

Public Transportation and Mobility Systems

We elected to focus on the issues of Public Transportation and Mobility Systems.

A refrigerated grocery locker system that could be deployed at local community centers or similar public areas in food deserts.

Addresses:

• Lack of reliable transportation and no local grocery store
  
  
• Lost hope and trust within communities after the grocery chain left Inconsistent access to healthy food
  
  
• Hidden costs to travel to and from grocery store outside the community