Food retail and access after the crash: rethinking the food desert problem

This article reviews Neil Wrigley's significant contributions to food desert research and how his work informs current debates in the USA around unhealthy foodscapes and what to do about them. After an update on the current U.S. food policy environment, the article reviews the controversies surrounding locating big food retail in underserviced areas. It argues that the food access problem can only move forward if three areas are addressed. First, economic geographers must return to a serious engagement in crucial evidence-based 'before/after' retail interventions as Wrigley and his UK researchers did almost 15 years ago. Second, current research must not be done in isolation to the context of the rapidly changing global retail environment and the multiple ways people now access their food. Third, solutions must also address the broader issues of affordability and need and the particular U.S. style governance regime that limits what personal responsibility can do.