<p> Food deserts have been a hot topic as of late, with various initiatives and healthy eating campaigns targeting communities that have difficulty accessing fresh produce. What happens when these communities are introduced to brand new colorful supermarkets filled with fresh produce? A study by Penn State University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was conducted to discover the answer to that question…<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> “We don’t find any difference at all,” says Stephen Matthews, professor in the departments of sociology, anthropology, and demography at PSU. “We see no effect of the store on fruit and vegetable consumption.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Although the store was only opened for six months before residents were surveyed, Matthews said that most residents knew the store was there and that it offered healthy food, according to NPR. Nevertheless, only 26% said it was their regular “go to” market, while those who lived closest to the store shopped there most regularly.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> The construction of a supermarket is merely part of the solution. NPR also reports that other researchers, such as Jonathan Blitstein, a research psychologist at Research Triangle Institute, suggest that shoppers need more than proximity to fresh produce – they need choice and quality.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Others, like Alex Ortega, a public health researcher at UC Los Angeles, believe that demand is equally as important. Posters, signs, and nutrition and cooking education classes can all be utilized to create demand within the community.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Whether it’s adding more supermarkets, choice, quality, or demand, it’s clear that breathing new life into these food deserts isn’t going to be solved by one all-encompassing solution. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/02/10/273046077/takes-more-than-a-produce-aisle-to-refresh-a-food-desert" target="_new"> NPR </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
