Food deserts do exist in many places, but majority of people in my area need vehicle access to get any groceries, or work. One usually does not walk down to the local dollar general.
And with vehicles come access to real grocery stores
Food deserts in the south are worse than just “need to drive to a grocery store.” Often the only nearby (short drive) is a store akin to Dollar General with very little or no fresh produce. If the closest place you can get decent quality fruit and veggies is an hour drive, you’re going to end up on a diet of corn syrup.
And that is definitely an issue .
Here is another take, I think the mortality patterns would have differences per county based on how many towns and food stores there are. But I don’t see it, for example Lufkin would have a higher life expectancy because so much of that county is a metro area, but it does not stand out against the other counties