Critically examines supermarket incentive policies that have aimed to
eliminate disparities in access to healthy food and, by doing so, reduce diet-
related chronic diseases. Public investments of hundreds of millions of
dollars have subsidized supermarket development through such programs, despite
research showing that merely expanding access to food retail has no
appreciable effect on shopping patterns, food choices, health, obesity, or
diet-related diseases. The article examines the emergence of food access as a
policy issue, current approaches to increasing food access, and possible
alternatives for reducing economic and health disparities within food systems.