‘Food desertification’: The loss of a major supermarket in New Haven, Connecticut

In March of 2010, the only full-service supermarket centrally located in New Haven, Connecticut closed, stranding many of the city’s residents in a food desert. A food desert is an urban or rural area with significantly limited access to retail sources of healthy and affordable food, due to a combination of socioeconomic disadvantages and physical distance. This article considers the pivotal and causative role of the business model of supermarkets in the creation of new or exacerbation of current urban food deserts, as well as in the impact the loss of one market has on the resilience of the community’s food system. Using the events of New Haven as a case study, the form and severity of the food desert in New Haven is analyzed by mapping ¼ mile, ½ mile, and 1 mile road network service areas of the major supermarkets and grocery stores of the area. These are compared against Census block group data of the New Haven population’s median household income, poverty level, and access to a personal vehicle. The results show certain parts of the city with low income, high poverty, and low vehicle access to exist in hardship outside the service areas of nearby stores. GIS methodology aids in illustrating the conclusion that the loss of just one supermarket has had significantly detrimental effects on the geographical food access of the city’s residents. The ongoing lack of a full-service supermarket in the city not only raises concerns about the value of a new supermarket coming in, but also creates possibilities for seeking alternative food system solutions.

► The loss of one supermarket in New Haven, Connecticut has created a food desert. ► A food desert is an area of limited access to healthy, affordable food sources. ► Distance and socioeconomic disadvantages exacerbate food desert problems. ► GIS is used to map geographical and economic access limits to urban grocery stores. ► Dominant supermarket practices introduce vulnerability into urban food systems.