What is grocery store redlining?
Grocery store redlining is the preferential placement of grocery stores in wealthy neighborhoods, where potential profits are greatest. Due to this selective practice, West Oakland residents must choose between one culturally inappropriate grocery store and forty liquor stores for their food needs. A community-mapping project of West Oakland’s food assets and resources in 2000 uncovered many aspects of West Oakland’s food insecurity. In addition to a lack of grocery facilities, the study found that food prices at these convenience stores ranged between 30%-100% higher than average prices in supermarkets and that only 3 of the stores offered a suitable selection of fresh fruits and vegetables (Farfan-Ramirez, 2000).
