The Introduction of a Supermarket via Tax-Credits in a Low-Income Area

Abstract

Purpose: Interest and funding continue to grow for bringing supermarkets to underserved areas, yet little is known about their impact.

Design: A quasi-experimental study was used to determine the impact of a new supermarket opening as a result of tax and zoning incentives.

Setting: The study took place in the South Bronx, New York City, New York.

Subjects: Studied were residents of two South Bronx neighborhoods deemed high need.

Measures: Food purchasing and consumption were examined via surveys and 24-hour dietary recalls before and at two points after the supermarket opened (1-5, 13-17 months).

Analysis: Data were analyzed using difference-in-difference models controlling for gender, race and ethnicity, age, education, marital status, and self-reported income. Ordinary least squares and logistic regression models were estimated for continuous and binary outcomes, respectively.

Results: At baseline, 94% to 97% of consumers shopped at a supermarket. There was a 2% increase in this behavior in the intervention community ( p < .05) not seen in the comparison community. One year later there was a 7% net increase in eating at home ( p < .1) and a 20% decrease in drinking sugary beverages ( p < .05), but no appreciable change in fruit/vegetable consumption or overall dietary quality.

Conclusion: The new supermarket did not result in substantial or broad changes in purchasing patterns or nutritional quality of food consumed, though smaller, positive changes were observed over a 1-year period. Future work should examine different contexts and a broader set of outcomes, including economic development.

Keywords: Diet; Economic Development; Fruit; Health focus: nutrition; New York City; Outcome measure: behavioral; Prevention Research. Manuscript format: research; Research purpose: program evaluation; Setting: Local community; Strategy: behavior change; Study design: quasi-experimental; Target population age: adults; Target population circumstances: education/income level; Vegetables; and race/ethnicity; built environment; geographic location.