Woonsocket, Rhode Island, once had numerous locally owned grocery stores, but factory closures and rising unemployment led to their decline. The city now has only one grocery store, a Price Rite, making it a food desert. Residents face challenges accessing fresh groceries, especially as nearly 20% lack transportation. The phenomenon of food deserts is often misunderstood as solely a result of poverty; however, factors like significant federal policy changes have played a crucial role in their emergence, especially in neighborhoods that once supported thriving grocery markets.
In Woonsocket, a city of 45,000 residents, there is currently only one grocery store, a Price Rite, at the edge of town.
Woonsocket is classified as a food desert, where nearly 20% of residents lack access to a vehicle and face challenges accessing fresh groceries.
Grocery stores in Woonsocket remained open even after the factory closures in the 1990s, indicating that food deserts emerged from policy shifts rather than merely economic decline.
The emergence of food deserts in poor neighborhoods is linked to a significant shift in federal policy and the influence of dominant retail chains like A&P.
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