Essentially, the food deserts concept links supply of nutritious
food, and the availability of food outlets providing
it, to the cost low-income consumers face in obtaining it.
Even though larger stores (supermarkets and supercenters)
appear able to sell food at lower prices than smaller ones,
empirical evidence that larger stores’ presence improves
consumers’ diet is mixed. While supermarket access is associated
with increased daily consumption of fruits and vegetables
among food stamp recipients (Rose and Richards,
2004), at least one study (Cummins, et al. 2005) found no
significant changes in consumption habits after entry of a
large food retailer.