I grew up in Orlando, FL. I really did not pay much attention to how the city was organized, especially in regards to the local food system, when I permanently lived there. But, since I've come to Tallahassee and started taking planning courses, I have realized that Orlando has many issues of its own.
Orlando is very spread out. It has a fairly large downtown area with many smaller communities and suburbs around it. Much of Orlando is connected by Interstate 4, which at times is the most dangerous or frustrating places to be because of the traffic conditions.
Since Orlando is so big and sprawling, there are many food deserts and food swamps. The closer you get to downtown, the more food options become available to you because of the higher density of population. I lived in a suburb that was about a 20-25 minute drive into downtown. I would consider it a food swamp because there was food options available to me, but they were not healthy options and there were no grocery stores for at least 6 miles. This was not too big of an issue for my family and I because we owned cars and could make the trip to a grocery store. But, for someone that did not own a car, it would be difficult to make the trip to a grocery store. Not every road had a bike lane or even a sidewalk. Additionally, the traffic during most times of the day is atrocious which makes it dangerous to travel by foot or bike. I would suggest implementing a wide bike lane on all major roads leading into the heart of Orlando in order to make more food options available for more people.
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