Produce-ing Nutritional Equality: Comparing Grocery Store Strategies in Urban Food Deserts—Philadelphia and the South Bronx, 2000s–2010s

Introduction 

A pediatric nutritionist placed a basket of zucchini on a classroom table, introducing it to the group of adolescents gathered around. A young girl recited the vegetable’s name back to the nutritionist—her repetition revealing her unfamiliarity with it. She then let out an amusing giggle that brought lightheartedness to the classroom. “It sounds like bikini!” she exclaimed. The nutritionist also gently emptied a container of plastic play foods onto the table and asked for them to be identified. Some of these toy foods include common peas, carrots, and corn. A young boy started sifting through them, getting a good look at each with eyes filled with curiosity.[1]

These children’s inability to identify common vegetables is a product of their environment. Food deserts like the ones these children live in are considered areas in which fresh food is difficult to access and afford.[2] More specifically, the USDA defines urban food deserts as areas having at least a 20% poverty rate and at least a third of the population lives more than one mile from the nearest grocery store. By these metrics, nearly twenty million Americans are vulnerable to the same consequences as these children, forging a national issue.[3] Many urban food deserts can be conversely called food swamps, areas where not only is there a lack of healthy foods, but they are also pervaded with unhealthy options such as fast-food restaurants and bodegas or corner stores.[4] It is no secret that replacing nutritious food with ultra-processed foods can increase your risk for obesity, heart disease, and type two diabetes.[5] Almost all of the children in the classroom suffered from these diseases usually common with middle-aged and older people–prompting these lessons to be administered.[6]

Scholars have begun addressing this health matter, but the strategies necessary for diet improvement are not as simple as one may think. Early scholars who recognized urban food deserts and their health implications also found a correlation between residents that were low-income. Public policymakers were urged to introduce more stores to improve accessibility and subsequently health metrics.[7] Answering demands for equality, stores began popping up and improving food accessibility, yet research showed that dietary and health metrics were not budging. Fresh and healthy food options became available, yet grocery stores also have the notorious “inner aisles” that mimic the shelves you see in corner stores.[8]

The conversation surrounding food desert intervention recently pivoted to investigating what social issues have an impact on shopping and eating habits.[9] The goal of this essay is to take a closer look at the integration of strategies aimed at addressing social issues through a comparison of two case studies. I will supply readers with clear recommendations about a grocery store model that is able to improve the diet and well-being of residents as well as minimize nutritional inequalities. My conclusion will supply readers with a clearer vision for fixing food desert residents’ diets than previous literature has been able to do.

This essay will first walk readers through a case study of the South Bronx, where a city-wide, government-led program introduced a large-scale grocery store yet failed to improve the diets of the local residents. Furthermore, I will compare this to a case study of a Philadelphia grocery store that has been opened by an entrepreneurial community member with the financial support of a public-private statewide program. Contrary to the South Bronx Associated Market, the Philadelphia ShopRite has been successful in its ability to improve the dietary and overall well-being of the local community. My conclusion will reveal a model group of strategies that has the potential to decrease nutritional inequality on a national level. Programs and grocers that introduce stores to food deserts must address issues beyond accessibility to improve the residents’ diets and nutritional equality.

The Formation of Food Deserts

The formation of urban food deserts is widely considered to be caused by two intertwined events in history–the arrival of chain supermarkets and suburbanization. Prior to the arrival of chain supermarkets, residents bought their groceries from farm stands or small “mom and pop” shops. Once large suburban chains started emerging in the 20th century, smaller inner-city sellers were unable to provide the same amenities, such as a wider variety of products, lower prices, and parking lots. Consumers started spending their dollars where they could be stretched further, and therefore “mom and pops” started losing business, and many had to close shop.[10] The arrival of chain supermarkets went hand in hand with suburbanization, which was expedited by the improvement of highway infrastructure.[11] The consumers who were able to travel outside of the inner-city to grocery shop, began migrating to the suburbs permanently. The space that allowed for larger chains also allowed room for desirable houses with yards, driveways, and white picket fences. A literature review by Wright et al. asserted that “Studies show that this migration to the suburbs caused half the supermarkets in the three largest cities of the United States to close.”[12]

The grocery stores in the South Bronx of New York City were a victim of suburbanization which was expedited due to the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway. Notorious urban planner Robert Moses designed the Cross Bronx Expressway in order to accommodate the new age of automobiles associated with higher-class suburbanization.[13] During and following the expressway’s construction, the Bronx had been completely split in half, and homes and buildings were ravaged. While navigating their habitat, residents walked on broken glass, dodged jutting pipes and banisters, and sought the place they once knew. Those wealthy enough to move to the suburbs did, taking their business elsewhere–the South Bronx was no longer a place to live, much less sell and shop.[14]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s grocery stores also suffered in the wake of chain store growth, suburbanization, and highway development that led to “infrastructural exclusion”–as articulated by Andrew Deener. When inner-city grocery shops began dwindling, some of the largest grocery chains, like Acme and A&P, still attempted to open stores within city limits. They ultimately failed to sustain financially in a competitive market that demanded economies of scale. The smaller, older buildings found within the city could not carry the cheaper, bulk items shoppers were looking for, and they couldn’t accommodate for parking–customers with automobiles typically had more money to spend. Additionally, distributors laid their eyes on larger suburban stores that could not only buy more supply, but were also easy to physically access on roadways, differing from the small, congested streets of a city. Philadelphia’s inner-city infrastructure that once properly supplied residents, became excluded from food distribution that chose more profitable suburban infrastructure.[15]

These damaging events left behind two notorious food deserts inhabited by low-income minorities without the socio-economic status to attain the desirable suburban life. The food desert residents of the South Bronx are in the ninety-fifth percentile of people of color and additionally are in the eighty-ninth percentile of low-income households.[16] Prior to intervention nearly all of the South Bronx’s half-million population were living in areas considered to be in “high need” of a supermarket.[17] The residents of North Philadelphia are similarly in the eighty-ninth percentile of people of color and are in the eighty-fourth percentile of low-income households.[18] Prior to intervention nearly three-hundred-thousand Philadelphians were “living in communities with low access to healthy foods.”[19] The stores at the heart of each of my case studies were opened in order to fix the inequalities possessed by these underserved community members who were without fundamental access to fresh healthy foods. In North Philadelphia, residents’ diets were able to benefit from the intervention, but in the South Bronx, residents were left looking for further support from policymakers and grocers.

The South Bronx: A Failure of FRESH Food Opportunities

To fix the food desert left behind in the South Bronx neighborhood, in 2011 an Associated Market opened on 3rd Avenue through a city-led program called Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH).[20] The program launched in 2009 following a study conducted by the Mayor’s Food Policy Task Force of NYC, which determined convenience and discount stores were the largest food retailers in the Bronx.[21] The NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Industrial Development Agency (NYCIDA) led the efforts of the multi-agency coalition. The program seemed to function under the Field of Dreams theory that “if you build it, they will come.”[22] It was FRESH’s intention for “they” to refer to customers flocking to buy fresh foods, but instead it has come to only account for grocery chains looking for a possible business opportunity.

The FRESH program focused entirely on supermarket subsidies–financial and zoning incentives–while lacking an overall interest in community involvement. In order to motivate chains to open in underserved areas, the NYCIDA provided eligible developers real estate tax reductions, a mortgage recording tax deferral, and sales tax exemptions on construction materials. The NYC Department of City Planning also awarded square-footage development rights and reduced parking requirements in order to incentivize developers.[23] Due to small margins, physical neighborhood conditions, and other factors, grocery chains are typically disinclined to open in food deserts–the FRESH program was very successful in their feat of implementing the 17,000-square-foot store providing access to fresh healthy foods, but that is where their involvement halted.[24]

Community activists have criticized the FRESH program for its focus on helping grocery store owners rather than neighborhood residents. “FRESH is a subsidy for supermarket chains, not poor people,” claimed one community activist.[25] The program has aided in the costs of opening stores but has not aided in the efforts to sell affordable products.[26] In interviews multiple consumers claimed that they shop where the sales are.[27] If this is at stores where processed food is most affordable, that is what they are constrained to purchasing and consuming.[28] Beth Weitzman, a professor of public health & policy at New York University, has added to the conversation, supporting the introduction of these stores but claiming “[FRESH] needs to be scaffolded with other programmatic efforts to expect any impacts on diet and health.”[29]

FRESH’s only effort at community involvement was limited to job creation, failing to facilitate any other ongoing engagement between the locals and the unfamiliar supermarket. Over 1,000 new jobs were created, and over six hundred have been estimated to be retained throughout the twenty-two similar projects across the five boroughs.[30] FRESH’s ability to provide fresh food options and new jobs had been labeled a “win” by the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and has been a point of pride for the program.[31] This is evidence that the program was deemed successful at this point and that other social issues of the South Bronx remain neglected. This is a grand accomplishment, but the community necessitates further support, especially in consideration for the improvement of diets to subsequently improve health metrics.

The necessity for further community involvement has been illustrated through research conducted by Brian Elbel et al., which revealed that the Bronx store had failed to improve the diet of the neighborhood’s children. Researchers collected shopping and consumption data from parents/guardians of South Bronx children prior to, five weeks after, and one year after the opening of the Associated Market. Results showed that not only were the diets of the local children lacking improvement, but the availability of healthy foods at home was similar to that of households in an adjacent neighborhood that has yet to receive a new store.[32] This is important evidence that reveals that access to fresh, healthy foods is not enough to change dietary habits for South Bronx residents. More comprehensive strategies are needed to solidify this store’s efficacy.

In addition, Nevin Cohen discovered similar disappointing dietary outcomes for adult New Yorkers in the decade following FRESH’s creation. In an assessment of all five boroughs, which are each recipients of FRESH intervention, fruit and vegetable consumption by adults remained “inadequate.” Disparities in consumption between black and whites had even increased. “Disparities in overweight and obesity have also persisted, with about two thirds of Black and Latino adults… reporting they were obese or overweight in both 2008 and 2015.” The Bronx is the landing spot for a third of FRESH’s projects, suggesting this area holds more gravity than other boroughs in these metrics.[33]

The lack of diet improvement has additionally been illustrated through images of the Bronx store and its patrons. The first element that indicates that the community’s diet has not improved since the store’s opening is the signage in the window that heavily promotes unhealthy items. Sugary Kool-Aid juice boxes hold a premium spot in the window alongside household staples such as sugar, coffee, and bath tissue, but there is an absence of the promotion of more fresh and healthy options. The only vegetables visible on the signage are canned, suggesting that customers are purchasing processed foods rather than fresh options. Since a store’s advertisements are used to influence shoppers’ choices, these signs suggest that consumers are buying what we are seeing—unhealthy items such as sugary juices that are poor for one’s diet.

Secondly, the physical attributes of the patrons in this image indicate that the Bronx store has not been able to improve the diet and health of the local community. The women in the blue and pink shirts, the majority of the subjects in this image, are noticeably overweight. This suggests that the store has not been able to properly promote their fresh healthy options and instead has been more successful selling processed foods like those promoted in the window signage. Although food consumption is not the only factor to consider while assessing a person’s weight, it certainly is important and is very telling in this context of an urban area where many patrons get exercise when confined to walking to grocery stores and subsequently carrying home what they purchase.

Philadelphia: A Successful Social Approach 

While the food desert in the South Bronx has yet to be fixed, the residents of Philadelphia have experienced more successful strategies in overcoming nutritional inequality. These successful strategies have been led by an entrepreneurial community member, Jeff Brown. Brown is a fourth-generation grocer who possesses the knowledge, compassion, and determination to make a change for the neglected people living in food deserts.[34] In 2004, he opened his first grocery store in southwest Philadelphia even after watching multiple others close and hearing warnings that tried to deter him.[35] He has since opened nearly a dozen more stores–his Fox Street ShopRite in North Philadelphia has been highly successful in improving the diet and overall well-being of the community.

Similar to the South Bronx Associated Market, four of Brown’s Philadelphia stores were supported by a large-scale state program aimed at improving food accessibility and a healthy lifestyle.[36] The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (PA FFFI) was administered in conjunction with the Food Trust, a non-profit organization with the mission of taking a “community-centered approach to nutrition security” that focuses on “three core programming elements — access, affordability, and education.”[37] The PA FFFI provided grants and loans to projects aimed at improving access to fresh healthy foods, and economic opportunities for state residents.[38] Brown passionately advocated for funds to be funneled towards these kinds of projects and his presence, among others, was recognized as a driving force in the formation of the PA FFFI.[39]

The PA FFFI and FRESH were remarkably similar in their role of solely providing financial support, yet complementary presences like the Food Trust and Jeff Brown have brought dietary success to Philadelphia. In each area, programs provided the financial support necessary  to physically provide fresh, nutritious foods crucial for a healthy diet— yet the South Bronx exemplified that this alone is insufficient to significantly improve local diets. Philadelphians additionally gained support from the Food Trust’s dedicated staff and programming aimed at providing nutrition education that “positively affect[s] quality of life, while respecting family and personal preferences.”[40] These programs are designed for all members of the community but have been able to reach over 15,000 children in Pennsylvania and New Jersey schools.[41] Brown has also included further strategies within his stores to knock down socio-economic barriers, and in turn prompt shoppers to buy and consume healthy options.

The first successful strategy Brown used in his pursuit of improving nutritional equality in Philadelphia was talking directly to the members of the local community. Prior to his store’s opening, Brown held a public planning meeting that hundreds of people attended including clergy members, NAACP representatives, and police officers.[42] He allowed them to lead the conversation, to get a sense of what he could do to satisfy the needs of potential patrons. He also wanted to hear how previous grocer’s attempts failed to meet the needs of the people. He grasped what products, brands, price points, and services would make customers feel valued. Locking up basic necessities, mistreating employees, and ignoring cultural preferences were mistakes previous grocers made and what Brown was looking to avoid. The information Brown was able to obtain inspired his subsequent strategies.[43]

Similar to the Associated Market in the South Bronx, Brown strategically hired local community members in order to promote community inclusion. Each of Brown’s stores provided two to three hundred positions for local community members, which have been able to change lives. Anthony Jackson, a frozen foods manager at the Fox Street ShopRite, spent much of his life incarcerated but now earns over fifty-thousand dollars annually thanks to Brown’s opportunity.[44] Tyrone Page is another example of a formerly incarcerated man who now holds a management position and has gotten his life back on track.[45] Not only has this strategy provided economic stability to locals, but it helps facilitate patronage to the store. Research has shown that customers feel more comfortable shopping in stores that employ people of their same race.[46]

Brown has additionally provided a walk-in clinic and an in-store social worker to help improve the well-being of the community as well as incentivize visitation to the store. QCare is a non-profit health service Brown started to provide low-cost care options, knowing many of his customers were without a primary care practitioner.[47] In his stores, uninsured patients can see a nurse practitioner for as little as twenty dollars. Customers can also visit a social worker to receive help applying for public benefits. His Fox Street store also provides a credit union without minimum deposit requirements, a low-cost bill payment service, free check cashing, and a pharmacy for customers’ convenience.[48] Brown brings foot traffic to the store so that customers can be introduced to other resources and services directed towards improving their diet. He claims, “If [people] don’t come here, they don’t benefit from your fresh foods.”[49]

Brown brings customers into the store and subsequently provides health focused services–a strategy that simultaneously accomplishes these feats, is his focus on satisfying cultural preferences. Philadelphia has welcomed a large number of people migrating from the American South, as well as immigrants from West Africa and the Caribbean. In recognition of this, Brown has provided food options that satisfy their taste preferences yet with a healthy twist. A popular seller is Brown’s in-house fire grilled chicken–a healthier alternative to fried.[50] He also offers collard greens cooked with turkey rather than pork. One of Browns best-selling bakery items are sweet potato pies–made in house with real ingredients.[51] Authentic ingredients such as fufu flour, curry powder, and coconut milk also fill “inner aisle” shelves. Additionally, Brown is aware of religious sanctions–to accommodate Philadelphia’s large Muslim community his stores have separate meat rooms for halal options and he even uses local community members to help with vendor selection.[52]

The strategy used by Brown, most closely tied to dietary improvement, is the inclusion of on-site nutritionists who provide nutrition education. At the Fox Street ShopRite customers can have a one-on-one consultation with nutritionist Ruby Dee Davis. She takes them through the store pointing out food options that are not only nutritious but filling and within their budget. Ruby also reads nutrition labels with customers to inform them of what ingredients and serving sizes to consume to maintain a healthy diet.[53] Additionally, nutritionists teach cooking classes, can provide one-on-one dietary consultations, and have regularly scheduled follow ups with customers to track how their weight and diet-related diseases are managed.[54]

Although Brown’s customers have not been as closely researched as South Bronx shoppers, there is available evidence that indicates success. One study reported in the few years following the creation of the PA FFFI that “Philadelphia saw an unprecedented 5% decline in rates of childhood obesity.”[55] Brown holds a strong belief that his customers’ diets are improving. He has claimed that “we sell the same amount of produce that we would sell in a suburban store.” His customers do not have a surplus of money to spend, and therefore because they have allocated their available funds for his fresh and healthy options, their diets and health have surely improved. He realizes that at the end of the day, very few individuals eat a perfect diet, but produce consumption has surged, considering there wasn’t any availability of these products merely years ago.[56]

A notable benchmark of Brown’s success includes recognition from First Lady Michelle Obama, another prominent figure in the fight for nutritional equality. He served as a policy advisor for the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign, aimed at combating childhood obesity.[57] The campaign had a strong focus on food deserts, as a “lack of access is one reason why many children are not eating recommended levels of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.”[58] In a 2011 speech at the White House, Mrs. Obama praised the efforts of Brown and the PA FFFI following a trip to the city of brotherly love and even cited them as a guideline for creating the United States’ national program, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI).[59] Since 2014, the HFFI has been estimated to help develop over 1,000 grocery projects, dispersing over a billion dollars to low-income and underserved communities.[60] Brown was also notably one of Mrs. Obama’s esteemed guests at the 2010 State of the Union Address.[61]

In addition to his dozen stores, Brown impacts individuals through his non-profit, UpLift Solutions. He wanted the success he found in Philadelphia to stretch across the entire country and at this point he has been able to reach grocers in forty other states.[62] Created in 2009, this program aims to train and guide other hard-working individuals willing and passionate enough to fix a food desert in their area.[63] This program was even used to train the formerly incarcerated men and women who are now qualified employees of Brown.[64] Today the UpLift focuses on working with formerly incarcerated individuals, offering programs that “[build] on the foundation of life skills training with a progression into technical skills training.” Programs are designed to educate eligible employees for an array of different fields in addition to grocery service.[65]

Conclusion

Back in the classroom, all of the plastic play foods have been cleared from the table and placed back in their storage bin. The basket of freshly picked zucchini remains on the table, accompanied by a cornucopia of other fresh fruits and vegetables. The children are pulling out familiar items, eager to take a bite. Few are shouting out, vocalizing their excitement to share thoughts with the class. “You should try these grapes; they are my favorite!” one boy shouts as he hands a bunch to the girl beside him. “The doctor at the store showed me those; she said some stores have green ones too!” she responds.

This improved classroom environment could be possible if grocery stores are opened in food deserts across the nation with the intent to address issues beyond food accessibility. The Associated Market in the South Bronx has evidently shown that a lack of action taken following the opening of a food desert store will not have an overwhelmingly positive effect on the diets of local residents. On the other hand, a North Philadelphia grocery chain has provided a socially designed business model that customers can benefit from. By incentivizing store visitation through the offering of valued services like affordable healthcare, and appointments with a social worker, customers can be introduced to services they have lacked their whole lives yet need. Not only are customers exposed to new food products, but the guidance of a nutritionist has provided them with the opportunity to change their shopping and eating habits for the better.

With enough creativity and determination these model strategies have the potential to serve as general templates for a number of different neighborhood services–laundromats, second-hand stores, pharmacies, banks, hardware stores, barber shops; the number of opportunities is endless. So many unique neighborhood businesses could be community places that could provide employment, stabilize the local economy, and make life’s responsibilities a bit more manageable for customers. Additionally, as Brown’s stores do, these businesses can serve as informal learning centers that offer educational lessons on different life and practical skills, especially for the youth. Banks could offer an array of lessons to improve an individual’s financial literacy and ability to handle money. Pharmacies could provide lessons on personal health and hygiene practices. Laundromats could offer an array of lessons on household and cleaning practices. Immersing these simple services throughout the community could increase the knowledge and skills of people in underserved communities.

It is crucial that interventions like those exemplified by Brown’s Super Stores occur across the country and potentially on an international level. Tens of millions of Americans are living in food deserts, deprived of the fundamental right to food security, and a healthy lifestyle. In addition to the urban conditions that this essay has discussed, rural areas across the United States are equally struggling with the circumstances of food deserts and have had much less success in solving this complex problem. The current state of food deserts necessitates an extensive amount of research, activism, and attention to be paid. The landscape of food distribution is ever changing, and it is the responsibility of scholars and policymakers to minimize nutritional inequalities.

[1] Tom Silverstone, “The food deserts of Memphis: inside America’s hunger capital,” The Guardian, November 20, 2019, video, 13:11, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6ZpkhPciaU

[2] Oxford English Dictionary, “food desert (n.),” March 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/8955602545

[3] Alana Rhone, “Food Access Research Atlas – Documentation,” The USDA Economic Research Service, Last modified January 5, 2025.

[4] Cordialis Msora-Kasago, “What Are Food Swamps? All You Need to Know,” Healthline, March 28, 2023, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-swamps

[5] Tianna Hicklin, “How dietary factors influence disease risk,” National Institutes of Health, March 14, 2017, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-dietary-factors-influence-disease-risk

[6] Silverstone, “The food deserts of Memphis,”

[7] Ronald Cotterill and Andrew Franklin, “The Urban Grocery Store Gap,” University of Connecticut, Food Marketing Policy Center, Issue Papers 161547 (1995): https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.161547 ; Kimberly Morland et al. “Neighborhood characteristics associated with the location of food stores and food service places.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 22, no. 1 (2002): https://doi.org/10.1016/S07493797(01)00403-2 ; Donald Rose and Rickelle Richards. “Food Store Access and Household Fruit and Vegetable Use among Participants in the US Food Stamp Program.” Public Health Nutrition 7, no. 8 (2004): 1081–88. https://doi.org/10.1079/PHN2004648.

[8] AM Hasanthi Abeykoon et al. “Health-related outcomes of new grocery store interventions: a systematic review.” Public Health Nutrition 20, no.12 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017000933 ; Kenneth H. Kolb, “What We Got Wrong,” in Retail Inequality: Reframing the Food Desert Debate (Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2022), 1-17. ; Renee E. Walker, Christopher R. Keane, and Jessica G Burke, “Disparities and Access to Healthy Food in the United States: A Review of Food Deserts Literature.” Health & Place 16, no. 5 (2010): 876–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.04.013

[9] James D. Wright et al. “Food Deserts: What Is the Problem? What Is the Solution?” Society 53, no. 2 (2016): 171–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-016-9993-8 ; Carolyn Cannuscio et al. “The social dynamics of healthy food shopping and store choice in an urban environment.” Social Science & Medicine 122 (2014): 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.005

[10] Wright et al. “Food Deserts: What Is the Problem?” 172.

[11] Andrew Deener, “The Origins of the Food Desert: Urban Inequality as Infrastructural Exclusion.” Social Forces 95, no. 3 (2017): 1285–1309. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sox001

[12] Wright et al. “Food Deserts: What Is the Problem?” 172.

[13] Denton Tarver, “The New Bronx: A Quick History of the Iconic Borough,” CooperatorNews New York, April 2007, https://cooperatornews.com/article/the-new-bronx

[14] Robert Caro, The Power Broker : Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. (New York: Vintage Books,1975), 892-894.

[15] Deener, “The Origins of the Food Desert,”

[16] “Environmental and Socioeconomic Indicators Data,” 1 Mile Ring Centered at 3740 3rd Ave, Bronx, NY, 10456. From The Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Analysis Multisite (EJAM), accessed March 2025.

[17] For population statistics: “Population Characteristics and Trends in the South Bronx,” Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems, New York University, 2009, https://www.icisnyu.org/south_bronx/Demographics_001.html ; For “high-need” consideration: “Going to Market Presentation,” (Slideshow, NYC Department of City Planning, 2008, Slide 19) https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/plans/supermarket/presentation_2008_10_29.pdf

[18] “Environmental and Socioeconomic Indicators Data,” 1 Mile Ring Centered at 3400 Fox St, Philadelphia, PA 19129. From The Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Analysis Multisite (EJAM), accessed March 2025.

[19] “Pennsylvania,” PolicyLink, accessed May 3, 2025, https://www.policylink.org/book/export/html/2314

[20] Margot Sanger-Katz, “Giving the Poor Easy Access to Healthy Food Doesn’t Mean They’ll Buy It,” The New York Times, (2015): https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/upshot/giving-the-poor-easy-access-to-healthy-food-doesnt-mean-theyll-buy-it.html?searchResultPosition=62 ; In May of 2021, The Associated Market on third avenue was renamed Food Universe Marketplace but remained under the same management. (@Fooduniversethirdave), “Introducing our new name! Food Universe Marketplace of Third Avenue [star-struck emoji] Same great friendly management, affordable prices and top quality FRESH foods and products! [thumbs Up emoji]”, Instagram, Post, May 21, 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/COxEskUlQfh/

[21] Batya Ungar-Sargon, “Have City Subsidies to Supermarkets Made NYC Healthier?” City Limits, April 6, 2015, https://citylimits.org/have-city-subsidies-to-supermarkets-made-nyc-healthier/

[22] “Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) Program: About,” NYC MyCity, accessed April 26, 2025, https://nyc-business.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/description/food-retail-expansion-to-support-health-fresh-program ; “Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH),” New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), accessed April 26, 2025, https://edc.nyc/program/food-retail-expansion-support-health-fresh ; For movie quote comparison: Lia Warner, “The FRESH Approach to Food Insecurity: NYC’s Market-Based Food Movement” Compass: The Gallatin Research Journal (2019): https://wp.nyu.edu/compass/2019/04/22/the-fresh-approach-to-food-insecurity-nycs-market-based-food-movement/#_ftn35

[23] “(FRESH) Program: About,” NYC MyCity

[24] Sanger-Katz, “Giving the Poor Easy Access..”

[25] Nicholas Freudenberg, John McDonough, and Emma Tsui, “Can a Food Justice Movement Improve Nutrition and Health? A Case Study of the Emerging Food Movement in New York City,” Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 88, no. 4 (2011): https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9598-x

[26] Warner, “The FRESH Approach,”

[27] Ungar-Sargon, “City Subsidies to Supermarkets,”

[28] Warner, “The FRESH Approach,”

[29] Ungar-Sargon, “City Subsidies to Supermarkets,”

[30] “(FRESH),” NYCEDC

[31] Warner, “The Fresh Approach,”

[32] Brian Elbel, et al. “Assessment of a Government-Subsidized Supermarket in a High-Need Area on Household Food Availability and Children’s Dietary Intakes.” Public Health Nutrition 18, no. 15 (2015): 2881–90.  https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980015000282

[33] Nevin Cohen, “REFRESH: Modifying the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health Program to Improve Healthy Food Access,” (Policy Brief, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, 2018), 2-3. https://cunyurbanfoodpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/BRIEF_REFRESH_Modifying_Food_Retail_Expansion_Support_Health_Program_Improve_Healthy_Food_Access_20180716.pdf

[34] “Feeding The Soul: Grocer Jeff Brown Tackles Philadelphia’s Food Deserts,” YPO, June 6, 2019, https://www.ypo.org/2019/06/feeding-the-soul-grocer-jeff-brown-tackles-philadelphias-food-deserts/

[35] Maanvi Singh, “Why A Philadelphia Grocery Chain Is Thriving In Food Deserts,” NPR’s The Salt, (2015): https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/14/406476968/why-one-grocery-chain-is-thriving-in-philadelphias-food-deserts

[36] “Getting Grocery Stores into Underserved Areas,” (Slideshow, The Food Trust, 2011). https://www.lisc.org/webcasts/2011/050411/Yael_Lehmann_Slides.pdf

[37] “Our mission: Delicious, nutritious food for all,” The Food Trust, accessed April 26, 2025, https://thefoodtrust.org/who-we-are/mission/ ; “Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative,” The Food Trust, accessed April 26, 2025, https://thefoodtrust.org/what-we do/hffi/pa/

[38] “Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative,” The Food Trust, accessed May 1, 2025, https://thefoodtrust.org/what-we-do/hffi/pa/

[39] R.J. Bernocco, Rebecca Cashman & Ian Cohan-Shapiro, “Jeff Brown, UpLift Solutions, and Leadership,” Social Innovations Journal, 7 (2011)

[40] “Pursuing sustainable community health,” The Food Trust, accessed May, 2, 2025, https://thefoodtrust.org/what-we-do/community-nutrition/

[41]  “Food education for the littlest learners,” The Food Trust, accessed May, 2, 2025, https://thefoodtrust.org/what-we-do/farm-to-school/

[42] Bernocco et al. “Jeff Brown, UpLift Solutions,”

[43] Cheryl Heller, “How a Grocery Store Entrepreneur Models Social Design,” Next City, December 17, 2018, https://nextcity.org/features/how-a-grocery-store-entrepreneur-models-social-design

[44] Paul Solman, “Building an oasis in a Philadelphia food desert,” PBS News. August 6, 2015, video, 7:53, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tayxf5q5y8c&t=1s

[45] “Solving the Problem of Food Deserts,” AARP, February 16, 2016, video, 4:05, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTYSnw8MQrU

[46] Patricia Banks, “Neighborhoods,” In Race, Ethnicity, and Consumption : A Sociological View. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group, 2020. 93-115. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315121147-5

[47] Singh, “Why A Philadelphia Grocery Chain,”

[48] Solman, “Building an oasis,” 3:55

[49] Ibid, 2:48

[50] Ibid, 3:00

[51] Singh, “Why A Philadelphia Grocery Chain,”

[52] Solman, “Building an oasis,” 2:22

[53] Ibid, 3:10

[54] Heller, “How a Grocery Store Entrepreneur,”

[55] For quote: Caroline Harries, et al. “Moving From Policy to Implementation: A Methodology and Lessons Learned to Determine Eligibility for Healthy Food Financing Projects.” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 20, no. 5 (2014): 498–505. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000061 ; For original research: Jessica M. Robbins et al. “Prevalence, disparities, and trends in obesity and severe obesity among students in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, school district, 2006–2010.” Prev Chronic Dis 9, no. 120118 (2012): https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/12_0118.htm

[56] Solman, “Building an oasis,” 6:10

[57]  “Feeding The Soul,” YPO

[58] “First Lady Michelle Obama Launches Let’s Move: America’s Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids,” The White House National Archives and Records Administration, February 9, 2010, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/first-lady-michelle-obama-launches-lets-move-americas-move-raise-a-healthier-genera

[59] “White House HFFI First Lady Michelle Obama 2011,” UpLift Solutions, Feb 29, 2012, video, 2:42, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkNhyDiXn9k&t=2s ; Bernocco et al. “Jeff Brown, UpLift Solutions,”

[60] “About the Healthy Food Financing Initiative,” America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative, accessed April 25, 2025, https://www.investinginfood.com/about-hffi/

[61] “ShopRite Owner Jeff Brown Lauded During State of the Union Address,” Progressive Grocer, January 27, 2010, https://progressivegrocer.com/shoprite-owner-jeff-brown-lauded-during-state-union-address

[62] “Feeding The Soul,” YPO

[63] Bernocco et al. “Jeff Brown, UpLift Solutions,”

[64] Heller, “How a Grocery Store Entrepreneur,”

[65] “Workforce Solutions,” UpLift Solutions, accessed May 2, 2025, https://upliftsolutions.org/workforce-solutions/

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