Improving Access to Healthy Food in Cities

The concentration of people in urban areas represents an enormous opportunity to create an environment that can promote healthy behavior and attendant population health. One of those opportunities is the provision of food to urban populations. While it is possible and in many respects feasible to optimize food in urban environments, in many urban areas this is far from the case. For example, urban food deserts are characterized by a paucity of healthy foods, encouraging unhealthy eating and attendant poor health. Commercial forces are often—but not necessarily—at odds with the goals of providing healthy foods in cities, further complicating the picture. This chapter discusses the opportunities inherent in providing healthy food to urban populations and the challenges inherent in such efforts.