Strengthening the core, improving access: Bringing healthy food downtown via a farmers' market move

•A larger and more diverse range of customers attend a farmers' market after a move.•37% of respondents are from the most distressed neighborhoods, up from 31%.•21% of respondents either took the bus or walked, compared to only 4% before.•49% of respondents indicated at least one issue in accessing healthy food.•Aligning a market in an accessible location is effective at addressing access issues.

Diet-related diseases are a major public health concern, and food environment research explores how built environmental interventions can address nutritional inequalities. Yet other, more direct intervention approaches may also yield positive benefits for residents living in food deserts. This paper presents a case study of a farmers' market move and its effects on healthy food accessibility and customer characteristics in a community with many food deserts. 844 surveys collected in 2011 and 2015 determine customer purchasing patterns and demographics at the Flint (Michigan) Farmers' Market. The market move has meant improved healthy food accessibility for mobility-constrained and low-income residents throughout the region. Counter to past research suggesting that farmers' markets tend to serve higher income groups, socioeconomically disadvantaged people constitute a major consumer demographic at Flint's market. The results of this research have broad utility for communities seeking to ameliorate the challenges of bringing healthy food to isolated food deserts by demonstrating that positioning healthy food in a prominent, central location will attract residents from such neighborhoods while engaging a broad clientele.