SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Seventy-nine-year-old Claire Sherman has never driven a car. Growing up in Providence, where she worked as a jewelry press operator for 33 years, she took the bus. Or her husband drove.

Sherman and her family moved to South County 11 years ago to get away from the bustle of the city. In 2001, her husband, a shellfisherman, died.

Living on Social Security, with no driver’s license, no car and no nearby bus line, Sherman found that one of her most basic needs — healthy, fresh food — was nearly out of reach.

Sherman is living in a food desert.

Researchers at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences have been studying the availability of food in urban areas — such as Providence — where fast food and gas station markets are easier to come by than grocery stores.

“But we didn’t expect what we’d find down here,” said researcher Lorraine Keeney. She pointed to South County on a map of the state. “That made us curious.”

ON THE MAP, a dark blue spot centered in Providence and the surrounding areas branches out, snaking along the coast, onto Conanicut and Aquidneck islands. It leaves a wide mark in North Kingstown and nearly covers Narragansett. Farther south, the blue streak skips along the coast in South Kingstown, missing Charlestown, and covering most of the southern coast of Westerly.

The blue areas, which cover about one-fourth of the map, represent a 30-minute or shorter trip to the grocery store on a bus driving an average 25 mph, walking at 3 mph, or some combination. Everyone outside of the blue area — most of South County and much of the state — faces a longer travel time without a car.

“People come here for cheap housing and can’t get jobs and can’t get to the grocery store,” Keeney said. “I wouldn’t move here if I needed help.”

Sherman lives outside the blue area, at Hillsdale Park in Richmond. The nearest and only bus stop in Richmond is the park-and-ride more than eight miles away, and there are no stops in Exeter. Munroe Dairy does deliver to Exeter, but does not offer fresh fruits or vegetables. Stop & Shop’s Peapod delivery service does not deliver to Richmond, and Sherman’s children have discouraged her, as she approaches 80, from trying to get a driver’s license.

“We can’t even get a pizza delivered,” she said, though, she added, “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

Sherman, and others at the mobile-home park, which is limited to people 55 and older, has come to rely on neighbors.

“In that park, if they see you don’t have a ride, they take you,” she said.

On a warm July morning, Kathy Tucker and Susanne Jenks — also residents of the park — brought Sherman on their monthly visit to the Peace Dale Jonnycake Center, a 12-mile trip that takes more than a half hour by car. The official food bank for Richmond residents is in Westerly — about 21 miles away — but for Sherman and others, getting there and back in a reasonable amount of time with one month’s worth of groceries would be nearly impossible, especially without a car.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority offers flex service — a service with more flexible routes — to Westerly, but the buses do not serve Richmond.

THERE ARE JUST A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE at the Wakefield Jonnycake Center who are there to pick up one month’s worth of food. In some ways, they, like Sherman and Tucker and Jenks, are an exception.

“A lot of people are living below the poverty line, but not using federal food programs,” such as the food pantry, Keeney said.

Tucker, president of the Hillsdale Park housing association, said she had no idea that she met federal poverty standards. For a single person, that means living off about $10,200 a year or less. She is eligible for a number of federal subsidy programs, including the food bank.

“It took two friends to get me to apply … If I qualify, then all these other people have to,” she said. About 80 percent of the park’s residents are considered low or moderate income, Tucker said. She has helped dozens of people sign up for food assistance and has been working with Jenks, and neighbor Virginia Molloy, to help their neighbors who don’t drive get to the store.

Between Tucker and Jenks, the pair usually take about 10 people on their monthly trip to Stop & Shop, either in North Kingstown or in Richmond. The two stores are about the same distance — about 7 miles — away, but their last trip was to Richmond where the prices, according to Keeney, are higher.

“We’re going to the Richmond store because I have 10 cents off gas,” Tucker said, before she pulled into the Stop & Shop gas station.

The two pull out grocery lists, noting what’s on sale this week, and how prices of everyday items have changed.

Tucker said she has gotten into the habit of shopping for a few weeks at a time, so when a deal presents itself, she takes it, this time buying three gallons of milk.

“You have to keep to the budget,” she said. “If you don’t you’ve got nothing left at the end of the month.”

Jenks also has an eagle eye for deals. She points to Velveeta cheese; the 16-ounce package for $4.59 — what the 32-ounce package used to cost. But now, she said, “I just buy the smaller one.”

“When you shop like this,” Tucker said, “You learn patience.”

As they leave the store, both women pause and open their purses, finding money to give to a man holding a jar labeled “Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes.”

LIVING IN A FOOD DESERT is more than an inconvenience. Beyond the price of owning a car — which the American Automobile Association estimates to be about $7,500 per year for a small sedan — food tends to be more expensive in rural areas, which have more independently owned stores and fewer chain supermarkets.

Hillsdale Park is near the junction of Richmond, Exeter and Hopkinton. Among the three towns, there are seven independent stores, three farmer’s markets, two food pantries and one chain supermarket — within 140 square miles.

According to a URI study of food stores throughout the state, the cheapest groceries are at superstores such as BJ’s or Wal-Mart. At those stores, one week’s worth of groceries that conform to last year’s federal Thrifty Food Plan — which the food-stamp allotment is based on — cost about $106 per week. In South County, there is one Wal-mart in Westerly and one in North Kingstown.

The same groceries cost, on average, about $140 per week at major chains and $151 a week at an independent store.

If the time and cost of shopping at independent stores are not a problem, nutrition may be. People who live far from grocery stores have less access to fresh fruits and vegetables, which need to be bought more frequently than other staples. Fresh produce also tends to be less available at independently owned stores than at larger supermarkets, and more expensive.

To buy a week’s worth of groceries that conform to this year’s federal Thrifty Food Plan, which has been updated to conform to the food pyramid and includes 50-percent more vegetables and 20-percent more fruit — costs about $115 per week at superstores, $143 at major chain stores and $164 at independent stores.

There is another variety of grocery store: the small chain. Keeney thinks these stores, such as Belmont Market and Dave’s, might be useful to residents living in towns where food access is limited, but where a rural character is also valued.

Many people, such as Sherman, moved to South County when rent was significantly cheaper than the Providence metro area and the idea of living far from any store was a motivating factor. Those living conditions have become problematic for some, Keeney speculated, because of the rise in rent, gasoline and other necessary expenses.

Some towns are resisting grocery chains as they try to hold on to their rural character. In Exeter, for example, the Planning Board has recommended amending its zoning ordinances to restrict commercial buildings larger than 40,000 square feet — ruling out a BJ’s or even a Stop & Shop, which averages 65,000 square feet.

But Belmont Market in Wakefield is just 15,000 square feet. Prices are higher than at larger chains, but not by much. One week’s worth of groceries that conform to the recent federal food plan costs an average of $148 at small chains — about $5 more than large chains and $16 less than at independent stores.

If towns adhere to “smart growth,” focusing development in a city center, Keeney said, “midsized grocery stores ... can become an integral part of a community.” More than convenient, but “where people enjoy shopping.”

With the price of gas, a new grocery store might not be the ideal anyway.

“Even if I had a car,” Sherman said, “I couldn’t afford to drive it … We would like to have a bus service.”. Maybe a service that takes residents of the park to the nearest grocery store once a week or once a month.

Tucker is working with the state Department of Environmental Management and local farmers to try to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to the park.

Unless something changes, these women will have to keep relying on each other to get to food. And no matter where they get it, Tucker said, “We have so far to go.”

bjeffers@projo.com