Shopping for Healthy Foods—Access Barriers in Low-Income Neighborhoods

Shopping for Healthy Foods—Access Barriers in Low-Income Neighborhoods

It’s clear that the kind of food people eat, as well as whether they have enough, makes a big difference to their health. U.S. households purchase most of the food they consume in grocery stores, supermarkets, or superstores (e.g., Wal-Mart). This is particularly true of the 18.6 million low-income households participating in SNAP;¹ 90 percent of SNAP benefits are redeemed in grocery stores, supermarkets, or superstores.² Program rules prohibit redeeming SNAP benefits in restaurants and fast food establishments.³

Good access to supermarkets is associated with a healthier diet and reduced risk of obesity.⁴ But in low-income communities, supermarkets and superstores are scarce. Other food outlets, such as small groceries or corner stores, carry a limited selection of healthy foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. In the 1990s, the term “food desert” was coined to describe such communities. Food deserts are found in both urban and rural contexts.⁵ The most obvious and dramatic cases are in remote rural areas—places such as Indian reservations where some homes are more than 100 miles from the nearest supermarket. In an urban food desert, the distances may be much shorter, but lack of transportation still poses a barrier to shopping for healthy foods.

In New Haven, CT, the West River and Dwight neighborhoods have gone from being a food oasis to a food desert and back again. These neighborhoods have a high concentration of low-income residents. When Shaw’s Supermarket opened in 1998, it was the first full-service store seen in West River or Dwight in almost 20 years.{footnote]Mark Winne (2008), Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty, Beacon Press.{/footnote} Shaw’s closed in March 2010 as part of a decision by corporate headquarters to cut back the number of stores. Once again, it became difficult for thousands of low-income residents to gain access to a diverse selection of healthy foods. What occurred in the West River and Dwight neighborhoods is noteworthy because it illustrates so clearly the challenges low-income neighborhoods face in gaining access to a source of healthy foods and holding onto it once they have it.

“Given that these neighborhoods aren’t much more than a stone’s throw from one of the world’s wealthiest educational and medical complexes, Yale University, it was ironic that people in this low-income area had to endure such hardship to secure their daily sustenance,” wrote Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty and cofounder of the Connecticut Food Policy Council. In the 1990s, Winne and the Food Policy Council supported the Greater Dwight Development Corporation (GWDC), a neighborhood nonprofit that led the effort to attract Shaw’s to the neighborhood. GWDC also received support from Yale.

In a 2010 study on health conditions across the entire city of New Haven, the Yale School of Medicine found that residents of the West River/Dwight neighborhoods consumed more fruits and vegetables than people in other city neighborhoods. The study concluded, “This suggests that residents have benefitted from Shaw’s and its closing will make it harder to find fresh produce in these neighborhoods.”⁶

“It went beyond being a place to buy food,” said Linda Thompson-Maier, a member of the GWDC when Shaw’s opened and now the organization’s president. “The supermarket provided a space in the community to see neighbors and socialize. There were few places elsewhere to do this. You could meet someone at the bakery counter or in the aisles and start a conversation that continued in the parking lot. Seniors came there during the day to use it as a gathering place.”⁷

The store also brought the community together around food issues, Thompson-Maier told Bread for the World Institute. At the beginning of the month when SNAP/food stamp benefits were issued, store managers took advantage of this infusion of money into the neighborhood to promote certain foods, mainly junk foods. Customers found this practice distasteful and organized a petition to get the management to end such campaigns.⁸

GWDC persuaded the store’s management to provide a share of store jobs to people from the community. The loss of the store was an economic blow to everyone, not just the employees who lost jobs. “Before the Shaw’s opened its doors, it was estimated that almost all of New Haven’s $115 million in annual residential food expenditures were leaving the city for the suburbs,” explained Winne. “By keeping a much greater portion of that wealth in neighborhoods that are starved for economic activity, the supermarket not only provided people with access to quality food at affordable prices but was also a good-size economic engine.”⁹

Fortunately, this story ends on a positive note. In February 2011, the community succeeded in attracting another supermarket chain, Stop and Shop, to occupy the vacant space left by Shaw’s.¹⁰ Once again, GWDC provided the leadership and Yale offered support. It’s important to note, though, that most low-income communities do not have such well-organized or powerful friends.