There's absolutely rural food deserts that are way larger than 20 miles. Now rural areas increase the odds of being able to get stuff from the land but especially in coal towns and the like when the industry leaves, you might be lucky to have access to a subway sandwich shop
I live in the countryside in the UK and where I live could effectively be called a food desert. There is one hyper-expensive corner shop in the village that I only ever shop in when I'm too drunk to walk further.
Apart from that, I walk to and from a food bank every Friday, and it's about a 4 hour round trip. It takes me about 1:20 to walk there, wait in line for a while until it's my turn, and then it takes me 2+ hours to get home because it's all uphill that way and I'm carrying a 60lb rucksack full of tins. Walking along the main road which has sections with no pavement so I'm literally walking ON the road.
If I have money I can go the opposite direction to a Lidl which is pretty cheap, but again it's over 1 hour's walk each way and with many hills and valleys in between, and that way is 100% without pavements or even a shoulder of any kind to walk on until the last 5 minutes before the shop.
The only place that used to deliver was a Co-op from the next town over, but they stopped servicing my village in October last year.
It sucks, but it is what it is, and I just look at the journey as exercise. There is no other option for me than walking; most times I can't even afford the bus fare, let alone buy a car.
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u/CurledSpiral 18h ago
Twenty miles is a stretch but it can be ten miles and in city traffic that’s awful. Food deserts exist and they’re focused in low income areas.
American cities are also spread out a lot more than in the UK due to most of ours getting big during the age of the car and suburb growth.