Wal-Mart store closures create new food deserts

The closure of 154 Wal-Mart stores across the U.S. created three new food deserts this week, according to The Associated Press.

The decision by the world’s largest retailer to shutter stores affected roughly 15,000 combined residents in Alabama, Arkansas and Kansas where the new deserts appeared.

Thirty-one more neighborhoods in 15 states will lack a store selling fresh produce and meat when the last of the Wal-Marts slated for closure go dark on Feb. 5.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a food desert as a neighborhood with a poverty rate of 20 percent among residents and where one-third are more than a mile from a grocery store in urban areas or more than 10 miles in rural areas.

The USDA’s most recent review shows about 9,000 such areas exist nationwide.

Read more from The Associated Press.