Define “better life.” The median house in every southern state is double the size of the median house in Portugal. In terms of material prosperity there’s no comparison, the American south is vastly richer.
Ehhh food deserts and food scarcity is very much an issue for millions of people in the American south.
1 in 4 face some type of food insecurity in Alabama. https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/npa/food-access.html#:~:....
(I would have thought that California has the best food quality in the US because that is where most of the organic fruits and vegetables in the US are grown and the other elements of a healthy diet can be shipped around the world with very little loss of quality.)