Today, as we just read, these areas still exist. Today, people are still struggling to have fair access to fresh food. McClintock is right to say that food deserts exist once existing capital is no longer performing as much as is wanted. But how do you even fix that? How do you convince businesses to move back into areas where they know they will lose money? It certainty won't be out of the goodness of their CEOs hearts, at least not a significant or meaningful amount. McClintock talked about that even restarting the cycle that once brought capital in just continues to yield the same result of poverty for those in previously labeled red or yellow areas. This can be due to things mentioned like majority of businesses and housing not being locally owned, people spending money in adjacent towns due to higher quality selections, and repeated loan disapproval and caution against investment in previously labeled red and yellow areas. Racism likely does still play a role as a barrier to changing this system, as even today, grocers are not running to re-open their doors in the areas they previously closed them in, but I think today the hesitation is more because of an economic fear than a racial matter. For areas like Oakland to change, they will need numerous things, but most importantly, more stable, paying jobs, majority local ownership of businesses, and locally owned housing options. I think this because if you provide capital influx in some way to a system like Oakland, and it is all being spent in adjacent towns, or on rents to landlords over seas or in different states, the city is ultimately losing money even when subsidized, and to restore incentive for a grocer to reopen its doors, you need to prove to them you have enough purchasing power to keep their grocery store running.
Monday, February 16, 2026
Industrial Gardens to Food Deserts
While I have been aware of historical ideologies having a negative lingering effect on societies today, I was not aware of the exact history of the process and why specifically some areas receive repeated cycles of poverty. I've known about zoning and other policies restricting grocery access to areas of low income, but it is an eye opener for me to learn now about how and why these things stay the way they are, more so than just "racism". It is quite clear that racism is a huge proponent to how this ball started rolling. Looking at the historical Oakland zoning maps was crazy to me, seeing how they were labeling other people as "lower graded elements" of a system as an excuse to restrict where new investment flows into is just hard to comment on. But I don't think thinking about the past and how it all started in the first place is going to solve any of the problems the past has left behind for this specific issue.
Today, as we just read, these areas still exist. Today, people are still struggling to have fair access to fresh food. McClintock is right to say that food deserts exist once existing capital is no longer performing as much as is wanted. But how do you even fix that? How do you convince businesses to move back into areas where they know they will lose money? It certainty won't be out of the goodness of their CEOs hearts, at least not a significant or meaningful amount. McClintock talked about that even restarting the cycle that once brought capital in just continues to yield the same result of poverty for those in previously labeled red or yellow areas. This can be due to things mentioned like majority of businesses and housing not being locally owned, people spending money in adjacent towns due to higher quality selections, and repeated loan disapproval and caution against investment in previously labeled red and yellow areas. Racism likely does still play a role as a barrier to changing this system, as even today, grocers are not running to re-open their doors in the areas they previously closed them in, but I think today the hesitation is more because of an economic fear than a racial matter. For areas like Oakland to change, they will need numerous things, but most importantly, more stable, paying jobs, majority local ownership of businesses, and locally owned housing options. I think this because if you provide capital influx in some way to a system like Oakland, and it is all being spent in adjacent towns, or on rents to landlords over seas or in different states, the city is ultimately losing money even when subsidized, and to restore incentive for a grocer to reopen its doors, you need to prove to them you have enough purchasing power to keep their grocery store running.
Today, as we just read, these areas still exist. Today, people are still struggling to have fair access to fresh food. McClintock is right to say that food deserts exist once existing capital is no longer performing as much as is wanted. But how do you even fix that? How do you convince businesses to move back into areas where they know they will lose money? It certainty won't be out of the goodness of their CEOs hearts, at least not a significant or meaningful amount. McClintock talked about that even restarting the cycle that once brought capital in just continues to yield the same result of poverty for those in previously labeled red or yellow areas. This can be due to things mentioned like majority of businesses and housing not being locally owned, people spending money in adjacent towns due to higher quality selections, and repeated loan disapproval and caution against investment in previously labeled red and yellow areas. Racism likely does still play a role as a barrier to changing this system, as even today, grocers are not running to re-open their doors in the areas they previously closed them in, but I think today the hesitation is more because of an economic fear than a racial matter. For areas like Oakland to change, they will need numerous things, but most importantly, more stable, paying jobs, majority local ownership of businesses, and locally owned housing options. I think this because if you provide capital influx in some way to a system like Oakland, and it is all being spent in adjacent towns, or on rents to landlords over seas or in different states, the city is ultimately losing money even when subsidized, and to restore incentive for a grocer to reopen its doors, you need to prove to them you have enough purchasing power to keep their grocery store running.
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From Industrial Gardens to Food Deserts
In Chapter 5 of industrial Garden to Food Desert by Nathan McClintock , he argues that food deserts are not accidental and are caused by s...
1 comment:
It was really jarring to see the excerpts from historical zoning and housing laws be so blatantly racist. Referring to black and Asian people as "detrimental influences" and basing the grade of the area on the abundance of racial or economic minorities is crazy. Such direct racism and classism would not fly today, however these old laws are still at the foundation of our laws and zoning policies. And not to say current zoning laws are inclusive, they are just less blatant in their discrimination.
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