Retail Inequality: Reframing the Food Desert Debate

Retail Inequality examines the failure of recent efforts to improve Americans' diets by increasing access to healthy food. Based on exhaustive research, this book by Kenneth H. Kolb documents the struggles of two Black neighborhoods in Greenville, South Carolina. For decades, outsiders ignored residents' complaints about the unsavory retail options on their side of town--until the well-intentioned but flawed "food desert" concept took hold in popular discourse. Soon after, new allies arrived to help, believing that grocery stores and healthier options were the key to better health. These efforts, however, did not change neighborhood residents' food consumption practices. Retail Inequality explains why and also outlines the history of deindustrialization, urban public policy, and racism that are the cause of unequal access to food today. Kolb identifies retail inequality as the crucial concept to understanding today's debates over gentrification and community development. As this book makes clear, the battle over food deserts was never about food--it was about equality.

Author: Kenneth H. Kolb
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 12/14/2021
Pages: 278
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 0.90d
ISBN13: 9780520384170
ISBN10: 0520384172
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Agriculture & Food (see also Political Science | Public Poli
- Social Science | Sociology | Urban
- Social Science | Race & Ethnic Relations

About the Author
Kenneth H. Kolb is Professor of Sociology at Furman University. He is the author of Moral Wages: The Emotional Dilemmas of Victim Advocacy and Counseling.