Addressing Food Deserts

Here is a link to a post that I wrote today for RenewLV's Crossroads blog:

http://renewlv.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/smart-food-access-the-key-to-healthy-weight/

I'd like to answer my own question that I posed at the end of the post. I asked:
“What are your suggestions for improved (food) access?” There are likely many ways of effectively answering this question, but the most comprehensive answers, in my view, must contain the following two principles:

1) Incentives to bring grocery stores into retrofitted buildings. The Weis’, Giant’s, and Wegman’s of the world currently have a real financial incentive to build on large plots of land far, far away from the city. Land is cheaper, the building can be much larger (therefore capturing economies of scale), its customer base in the suburbs has more disposable incomes, and parking regulations can be easily satisfied. Cities and Counties could offer subsidized retrofits and building costs, distribution partnerships with other area stores (thereby capturing economies of scale), and reducing or eliminating parking requirements (which would save on construction costs; remember, more than half of construction costs of standard commercial buildings go into the parking lot).

2) Development of mixed-income, mixed-use communities. The root problem with food access for all income levels is the economic segregation of our communities. Historically, problems of food access and obesity (as well as high rates of inner city poverty and crime) did not exist on large scales until cities began funneling the majority of municipal investments away from city centers. The way to fix this is to do the exact opposite of what is currently being done: economic integration and central investment. Central cities and inner-ring suburbs should be redeveloped to lift the skills and provide opportunities for people of low-incomes, attract people of middle- and high-incomes, and build communities around both groups with necessities and amenities at their cores. At the same time, outer-ring suburbs must densify to various extents (the closer to the city, the denser) and offer housing and employment options for people of lower-incomes, while also offering convenient amenities and opportunities for alternative modes of transportation (walking, biking, light rail, etc.). These types of economically-integrated communities will better attract food establishments.

Implementing the first principle without the second requires an increase in taxes and many significant political fights that can tear a community and city apart. Yet, if the second principle does not garner any support, incentives alone are worth it and can work if done properly and with public input and buy-in. Implementing the second principle, however, makes the first largely unnecessary. Although distribution partnerships and property tax incentives may be used to further encourage food development in comprehensive communities, the already extant customer base and relaxed parking requirements of a mixed-use community might be incentive enough.