A Historical Era of Food Deserts

Abstract

Previous research on “food deserts” generally agrees that supermarkets tend to avoid economically disadvantaged and high percent African American urban areas. Yet this literature is largely ahistorical, missing out on the historical dynamics between neighborhood restructuring and supermarket placement patterns. This article examines one particularly important era of neighborhood restructuring: the “urban crisis” of the 1970s and 1980s. In examining supermarket location during the “urban crisis,” this article elaborates whether (1) the demographic attributes of zip codes consistently predict supermarket location over time or whether (2) the demographic correlates of supermarket location changed from 1970 to 1990. Data are collected from 1970 and 1980 city directories and unofficial data from the 1990 census zip business patterns. “Separate year” and “differenced data” models investigate the correlates of supermarket location in nine U.S. urban areas from 1970 to 1990. Results show that, controlling for population and percent African Americans, in 1970, supermarkets were more likely to locate in urban areas with higher poverty and lower income. This pattern of supermarket placement gradually changed direction from 1970 to 1990. Future research and policy should deal with the problem of food deserts in economically disadvantaged areas as a historical issue.