> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://veganvigil.gitbook.io/overview/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://veganvigil.gitbook.io/overview/crime-and-economy/food-deserts.md).

# Food Deserts

A food desert is an area where accessibility to food is limited.\
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It is often argued that veganism is not a moral obligation for everyone because some people are in food deserts and do not have access to alternatives. There are a variety of flaws with this argument.\
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Veganism is defined by *doing what is practicable.* It isn't practicable to starve to death. Nothing about the philosophy of veganism necessitates this. Therefore everyone can be vegan.

{% content-ref url="/pages/9l3n396cwUYWUuj922qA" %}
[Veganism](/overview/definitions/veganism.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

As far as cost goes, plant-based foods are almost always cheaper than animal products, because animals must eat plants to grow in the first place anyway. Trophic levels and FCRs corroborate this.

{% content-ref url="/pages/RelEdenEJvpYAcdBgqoM" %}
[Trophic Levels](/overview/environment/trophic-levels.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}

The pages in this section give several examples of areas that are frequently argued to be impossible to live and eat plant-based, and yet there are people who live there and are vegan.\
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This isn't to say that there isn't a hypothetical survival situation where it could be impossible to be plant-based without starving to death, just that these situations aren't typically present in civilized society.