The phenomenon of "food deserts" in rural areas is intensifying... the US, UK, and Japan strengthen legal responses.

Since 2008, the U.S. has legally defined and promoted initiatives such as expanding food retail stores. The U.K. is "precisely mapping" food deserts. Japan has specified the nation's responsibility for ensuring food access. As the phenomenon of "food deserts," where it is difficult to purchase fresh food in rural areas, intensifies, major developed countries such as the U.S. have been found to be strengthening institutional responses by specifying response programs in agricultural-related laws. The National Assembly Library highlighted cases from various countries through a report titled "Disappearing Grocery Stores... Are Rural Areas Becoming Food Deserts?" (World&Law Issue 2025-11). According to the report, legal and institutional mechanisms supporting the right to food are being systematized in major developed countries. The U.S. legally defined food deserts in the "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008" and introduced related programs in the "Agricultural Act of 2014." ...