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Filling in the "grocery gap"
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McElroy, James. Filling in the "grocery gap". Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T39W0HP1

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TitleFilling in the "grocery gap"
NameMcElroy, James (author); Krasovic, Mark (chair); Rutgers University; Graduate School - Newark
Date Created2016
Other Date2016-05 (degree)
SubjectHistory, Supermarkets--New Jersey--History, Grocery trade--New Jersey--Newark, Food security
Extent1 online resource (iii, 77 p. : ill.)
DescriptionDue to the lack of fresh food outlets, Newark has been labeled a “food desert.” In recent years, The Star-Ledger has heralded the planned openings of several supermarkets in the city as amounting to a redress to the problem. A decade before the term food desert reached the public discourse, national attention was paid to what was then termed the “urban grocery gap,” or the general inequality of food stores in suburban versus urban areas. In government hearings, as well as in articles published in The New York Times and Newsweek during the early 1990s, supermarket executives and industry analysts emphasized the poor economic conditions in urban areas, and the structural and logistical difficulties of opening and operating profitable stores in cities like Newark. By reviewing the industry’s trade literature along with grocery store market analyses since the flight of major food chains from Newark and other cities during the late-1960s, it is clear that the real estate choices of store operators, executives, and underwriters, were also influenced by race-based and cultural assumptions. Assumptions about urban communities were influenced by the coverage of the 1967 disturbances in Newark and the uprisings in other U.S. cities in the trade press as well as by major media outlets. Supermarket executives and industry leaders categorized urban consumers as essentially different from suburban shoppers, and urban communities were labeled irresponsible and uncooperative. In order to attract chain stores back into city neighborhoods, community organizations had to prove that their residents were committed to order and stability, and financial arrangements were made that ensured supermarket chains benefitted from tax exemptions while taking minimal risks. As approaches to the problem of food deserts are being developed, it is essential to keep in mind that barriers to nutrition have social as well as economic origins.
NoteM.A.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby James McElroy
Genretheses, ETD graduate
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T39W0HP1
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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