What is a food desert, and how does it exemplify the main point of this chapter, which is that health and illness are socially constructed?

Good answers will mention that food deserts began to emerge when grocery store chains left urban areas for the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of perceived problems of security, profitability, real estate costs, and parking. The result was that there were fewer healthy food options for those living in these urban areas and, in their place, other fast food and convenience-type food sources moved in. The effects, due to a change in food sources, include a greater risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. A social process has impacted the physical bodies (and health) of individuals who live in these low-income urban spaces.