ABSTRACT
The ability to purchase good quality and reasonably priced food depends upon access to food outlets. These have declined substantially over the last three decades. There has been a major reduction in the number of local, small, corner shops which is directly related to the growth of supermarkets, first in city centres and High Streets and, since the early 1980s, in out-of-town locations. So much so that today the big four – ASDA/Wal-Mart, Sainsbury’s, Safeway and Tesco – control 85 per cent of the UK food market. The dangers of monopoly power and the restriction of choice are well known, but for social policy the problem is more that this monopoly reduces food choices for those who are disadvantaged. There are now ‘food deserts’, i.e. areas where there are no food shops for local people, necessitating a journey to shops at some distance made that much more difficult if one has to use public transport.
