'The solution to food inequality has traditionally been framed as a problem of access and education: Bring healthy foods into under-served communities and educate those living there on healthy eating, the argument goes. But just as getting oneself out of poverty is far more complicated than working hard and getting an education, maintaining a healthy body by "choosing" to eat well is far more complex than making simple decisions about what to eat in our current food landscape.

In both cases, the ideology of "personal responsibility" is invoked, which fails to address deeper, structural issues like the myriad causes and effects of poverty. As author and University of California Santa Cruz professor Julie Guthman puts it, "Built environments reflect social relations and political dynamics...more than it creates them."

When we frame the problem in terms of simplistic solutions, like "better access to fruits and vegetables" or "education about healthy eating" the underlying structures remain and the food, agricultural, and chemical industries are not impacted at all. As Ta-Nehisi Coates' writes in his new book Between The World And Me, "The purpose of the language of ... 'personal responsibility' is broad exoneration."' Why Food Belongs in Our Discussions of Race

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