"mississippi delta" news and stories

Despite living on some of the most fertile soil in the country, some residents of the Mississippi Delta have trouble finding fresh produce.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture study on "food deserts" -- where fast food, convenience stores and liquor stores dominate the landscape and fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to find -- found that in Leflore County, Ms., nearly 12,000 low-income households are more than a mile from a grocery store, the Associated Press reported.

The county's adult obesity rate, at 38.6 percent, mirrors its poverty rate at 38.8 percent, the AP article also reported.

"The biggest concern I'm hearing is that our citizens tremendously need a grocery store," Wayne Self, president of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors, told the AP. "If that's what the citizens want, then that's what I am going to fight for."