"Overnight Delivery Is a Luxury, Even Regular Delivery Would Help"... As the Young Leave, Refrigerators Are Left Empty [Food Desert]②

No Grocery Stores in 27,609 Administrative Districts
As Young People Flock to Cities, Supermarkets Shut Down
Declining Purchasing Power Leads to Inactive Logistics Chains

Editor's NoteHave you ever found grocery shopping difficult? In an era where you can buy any food you need online or offline at any time, it's almost unimaginable. However, in South Korea, there are areas where there is no supermarket within walking distance, and even delivery services do not reach, making it difficult to obtain food. These places, where buying food is as hard as finding an oasis in a desert, are called "food deserts." Food deserts are expanding due to aging populations, regional decline, and information gaps. We aim to examine the problems caused by the everyday inconvenience of grocery shopping and to reflect on these issues together.

A "food desert" refers to an area where, due to factors such as population decline, grocery stores have closed, making it difficult for residents to purchase fresh food. Food deserts emerge at the intersection of various asymmetrical issues, such as the urban-rural divide, income disparity, and information gaps. If these inequality issues remain unresolved, the scope of food deserts will inevitably continue to expand.

With Young People Gone and Purchasing Power Down... Marts and Supermarkets Have All Left

On the 1st, residents visiting the Door-to-Door Dangjin Rural Mobile Market set up at the Sinchon-ri Village Hall in Hapdeok-eup, Dangjin, Chungnam, are purchasing goods. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The government plans to use the "2025 Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Census," conducted by the National Data Agency from November 20 to December 22, to assess the status of grocery retailers and public transportation in administrative villages nationwide and devise measures to address the expansion of food deserts. Experts estimate that, since the "2020 Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Census" found that 27,609 out of 37,563 administrative villages nationwide (74%) had no grocery retailers, ongoing aging and rural population decline have likely further expanded food deserts.

In the previous survey, Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province had the highest proportion of administrative villages without grocery retailers (83.62%), followed by Jeollanam-do (83.33%), Gyeongsangbuk-do (78.86%), Chungcheongnam-do (75.1%), and Chungcheongbuk-do (75.04%). There were 14 areas where even neighboring administrative villages had no retailers, requiring residents to drive more than an hour to reach a store.

The Korea Rural Economic Institute analyzes that food deserts arise from the interplay of various urban-rural disparities, including economic power, population, and infrastructure. The process typically unfolds as follows:

First, young people leave for cities for various reasons, leading to population decline. As the economically active generation departs, the purchasing power of the region decreases. Department stores and large supermarkets, which require high-spending customers to be profitable, close down. With no shopping infrastructure, more young people leave for cities, creating a vicious cycle.

The number of public transportation options also decreases due to the lack of enough passengers to break even. In aging regions, few people own cars, and driving is often difficult. Many rural residents must rely on infrequent buses or ask children or acquaintances for rides to go shopping. In areas with poor transportation infrastructure, privately operated supermarkets and other grocery retailers cannot afford logistics and labor costs, leading to further closures. As food accessibility gradually worsens, a food desert ultimately forms.

Can't You Just Order Delivery? How Distribution Channels Collapse

When entering the address of the village hall in Dogok-ri, Hapdeok-eup, Dangjin-si, Chungnam, a message appears on Rocket Fresh stating that the service is not available in this area. Photo by Jeon Jinyoung.

The Korea Institute of Public Finance reported that, as of the end of last year, 123 out of 250 cities, counties, and districts nationwide (49.2%) could not receive early morning delivery from Coupang, SSG.com, Kurly, or Oasis. This means that in food deserts, delivery services often do not function properly. As large supermarkets withdraw, logistics systems essentially collapse. For next-day delivery services, where fresh food is selected via an application, large logistics centers must operate 24 hours a day. In the absence of investment incentives, large distribution chains have no reason to build logistics systems that cover food deserts in rural areas.

In areas without grocery retailers, there are usually no restaurants either. It is difficult for businesses that must bring in fresh ingredients daily and prepare food to succeed in these regions. Even if you use a food delivery app, there are often no restaurants operating, and even if there are, these areas are often marked as "delivery unavailable."

The information gap also has an impact. Even in areas where online grocery shopping services are available, elderly residents who are not adept at using smartphones find it difficult to download and use these services.

On the 1st, large-capacity groceries were displayed at the Hanaro Mart Hapdeok Nonghyup in Dangjin, Chungnam. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

Despite the fact that food deserts are intertwined with various disparities, there is still no clear standard or established concept for food deserts in South Korea. While the concept of food deserts emerged and began to be studied in Western countries and Japan in the 1990s, it only started to appear in South Korea in the early 2010s.

The United States Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as areas where fresh food cannot be obtained within 1 mile (1.6 km) in urban areas and 10 miles (16 km) in rural areas. In Japan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries defines food deserts as places where grocery stores are more than 500 meters away on foot. However, in South Korea, there is no unified government standard related to the term food desert.

As a result, the term "food desert" itself is often used inconsistently. In academia, terms are already being distinguished according to the characteristics of food deserts. For example, in other countries, food deserts that arise in urban areas are classified as "food swamps" or "food mirages." Areas with grocery retailers nearby but where only fast food or processed foods are sold, making it difficult to access nutritious fresh food, are called "food swamps." When grocery stores exist but prices are high or incomes are insufficient for purchases, these areas are called "food mirages."

Experts advise that these distinctions must be considered when developing countermeasures. Yoo Chanhee, a research fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, said, "Personally, I believe that, like in the United States or Japan, it is more appropriate to use travel time rather than just physical distance as the standard for food deserts." He added, "Since there is no clear standard in South Korea, it is necessary to discuss this issue thoroughly."