Eliminating Food Deserts Doesn't Help Poor Americans

Eliminating Food Deserts Doesn't Help Poor Americans
"...Many think that a key cause of nutritional inequality is food deserts – or neighborhoods without supermarkets, mostly in low-income areas. 
...The data tell a strikingly different story.
...Although many people began shopping at the new local supermarket after it opened, they generally didn’t buy healthier food. 
We can statistically conclude that the effect on healthy eating from opening new supermarkets was negligible at best. 
We calculated that local access to supermarkets explains no more than about 1.5 percent of the difference in healthy eating between low- and high-income households.
How could this be?
...In other words, people don’t suddenly go from shopping at an unhealthy convenience store to shopping at the new, healthy supermarket. 
In reality, people go from shopping at a faraway supermarket to shopping at a new supermarket that offers the same types of groceries.
...But the data show that healthier eating is not one of those benefits...."
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