For 53 million Americans, getting groceries isn't simple. The nearest supermarket might be miles away. The corner store stocks chips and soda, not produce. The calculation becomes: is it worth the trip?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls these neighborhoods "low-income, low-access" areas. Researchers call them food deserts. Federal data shows they don't affect everyone equally.

Black households experience food insecurity at a rate of 21%, nearly four times higher than Asian households at 5.4% and more than double the rate of white households at 8%. Hispanic households fall in between at 16.9%, according to the USDA's Economic Research Service.

The disparity isn't random. Decades of research link it to historical disinvestment in Black and brown neighborhoods, the closure of grocery stores in low-income areas, and the spread of fast food restaurants where supermarkets once stood.

A study published by the National Institutes of Health found that African-American populations had half as much access to chain supermarkets as white populations. Hispanic communities had one-third the access of non-Hispanic communities.

Limited access to fresh food has consequences. It's been linked to higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease; conditions that disproportionately affect the same communities already struggling to reach a grocery store.

Where do food deserts actually exist? The name suggests rural areas, vast farmland with no store in sight. The data tells a different story.

According to the USDA Food Access Research Atlas, 17.4 million Americans who own cars still live far from grocery stores. Another 2.1 million without vehicles face the same problem. Having a car doesn't solve everything when there's nowhere nearby to drive to.

Cities like Memphis, where 32% of residents live in low-access areas, rank among the hardest hit. San Antonio and Riverside, California each sit at 26%. States like Mississippi, New Mexico, and Arkansas have up to 30% of residents living in food deserts.

Cost plays a role too. Research from Brown University and Harvard found that healthier diets cost about $1.50 more per day than processed alternatives. That's over $500 a year for one person, and even more for families already stretching every dollar.

For the 39.5 million Americans living in these areas, about 13% of the U.S. population, the question isn't whether they want to eat healthier. It's whether they can afford to, and whether there's a store close enough to try.

Federal nutrition programs like SNAP help bridge the gap. But they can't build a grocery store where none exists. As debates over food assistance funding continue in Washington, millions remain caught between policy decisions and empty refrigerators.

In America, your zip code still shapes what ends up on your plate.