Concept and background
The term arose in 1990s UK nutrition policy debates. Wrigley (2002) described how supermarkets moving to suburbs left carless low-income residents without fresh food, a structure similar to the spatial mismatch hypothesis and a strand of neighborhood effects research.
Disparities
Morland and colleagues (2002) found far fewer supermarkets in Black and low-income US neighbourhoods. Larson, Story and Nelson (2009) and Walker, Keane and Burke (2010) reviewed disparities by income and race, treated as social determinants of health.
Debates and policy
Cummins and Macintyre (2002) warned the concept outran the evidence, and Beaulac and colleagues (2009) found clear disparities in the US but fewer elsewhere. Allcott and colleagues (2017) showed new supermarkets barely changed diets, suggesting demand factors such as income, habits and knowledge matter more. Proposals now pair store access with nutrition education and food assistance, and some warn of gentrification after stores arrive.
FAQ
- What is a food desert in simple terms?
- A neighbourhood without nearby shops selling fresh food, making healthy eating hard.
- Does opening a supermarket fix it?
- Research suggests stores alone change diets little, so income and education also need attention.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Cummins, S., & Macintyre, S. (2002). "Food deserts"—evidence and assumption in health policy making. BMJ, 325(7361), 436–438. Warns that the concept outran the evidence.
- Wrigley, N. (2002). 'Food deserts' in British cities: Policy context and research priorities. Urban Studies, 39(11), 2029–2040. The UK policy context of food deserts.
- Morland, K., Wing, S., Diez Roux, A., & Poole, C. (2002). Neighborhood characteristics associated with the location of food stores and food service places. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22(1), 23–29. Fewer supermarkets in poor and Black neighbourhoods.
- Larson, N. I., Story, M. T., & Nelson, M. C. (2009). Neighborhood environments: Disparities in access to healthy foods in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(1), 74–81. Reviews disparities in healthy food access.
- Walker, R. E., Keane, C. R., & Burke, J. G. (2010). Disparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature. Health & Place, 16(5), 876–884. A systematic review of food desert research.
- Allcott, H., Diamond, R., Dubé, J.-P., Handbury, J., Rahkovsky, I., & Schnell, M. (2017). Food deserts and the causes of nutritional inequality (NBER Working Paper No. 24094). National Bureau of Economic Research. Shows new supermarkets change diets little.
- Beaulac, J., Kristjansson, E., & Cummins, S. (2009). A systematic review of food deserts, 1966–2007. Preventing Chronic Disease, 6(3), A105. A systematic review spanning four decades.