The changing landscape of food deserts.

In this article, we discuss the most recent trends in food-retail access in low- and moderate-income communities in the United States of America. We begin with a review of the current literature on the number of people impacted by food deserts and then review several critical retail trends, including supercentres (such as Walmart), dollar stores, farmers markets and online food retail. We discuss the growing investment in incentive programmes, as well as new understandings of the impact of food deserts on health. In the United States of America, the number of communities without adequate access to healthy affordable food has declined, though more than 5.6 percent of the population still lives in low-access census tracts. At the same time, racial and economic disparities in food access remain a considerable concern, with around 30 percent more non-white residents facing limited access to food retail than white residents. We also provide recommendations for areas of future research.

Increasing supplemental nutrition assistance program/electronic benefits transfer sales at farmers' markets with vendor-operated wireless point-of-sale terminals.

BACKGROUND: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly Food Stamp Program) participants can use their benefits at many farmers' markets. However, most markets have only one market-operated wireless point-of-sale (POS) card swipe terminal for electronic benefits transfer (EBT) transactions. It is not known whether providing each farmer/vendor with individual wireless POS terminals and subsidizing EBT fees will increase SNAP/EBT purchases at farmers' markets. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of multiple vendor-operated wireless POS terminals (vs a single market-operated terminal) on use of SNAP benefits at an urban farmers' market. DESIGN: Time-series analyses of SNAP/EBT sales. SETTING: The Clark Park farmers' market in West Philadelphia, PA, which accounts for one quarter of all SNAP/EBT sales at farmers' markets in Pennsylvania. INTERVENTION: Vendors were provided with individual wireless POS terminals for 9 months (June 2008-February 2009.) The pilot program covered all equipment and wireless service costs and transaction fees associated with SNAP/EBT, credit, and debit sales. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Monthly SNAP/EBT sales at the Clark Park farmers' market. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: SNAP/EBT sales data were collected for 48 months (January 2007-December 2010). Time-series regression analysis was used to estimate the effect of the intervention period (June 2008-February 2009) on SNAP/EBT sales, controlling for seasonal effects and total SNAP benefits issued in Philadelphia. RESULTS: The intervention was associated with a 38% increase in monthly SNAP/EBT sales. Effects were greatest during the busy fall market seasons. SNAP/EBT sales did not remain significantly higher after the intervention period. CONCLUSIONS: Providing individual wireless POS terminals to farmers' market vendors leads to increased sales. However, market vendors indicated that subsidies for equipment costs and fees would be needed to break even. Currently, SNAP provides some support for these services for supermarket and other SNAP retailers with landline access, but not for farmers' markets.