This study addresses the knowledge gap concerning the demand for fresh fruit in an urban food desert, where healthy foods are scarce by definition. Using register data from a non-profit greengrocer in Detroit—one of America’s largest and most severe food deserts—expenditure...

Food deserts are associated with lower quality diets and higher obesity rates. One hypothesis for their emergence is that retailers avoid food deserts because demand side factors such as low income limit demand for healthy foods. A competing hypothesis is that supply side factors cause...