Having lived in several parts of the US, I can say tell you anecdotally: When I lived in a very poor neighborhood, the local Walmart didn't even have a fresh f

Having lived in several parts of the US, I can say tell you anecdotally: When I lived in a very poor neighborhood, the local Walmart didn't even have a fresh fruits and vegetable section. Nothing. They had a canasta of apples and bananas near the register, that's it. And it wasn't a small wallmart either. There was a nice neighborhood, about 10 miles away, that had a Walmart with a wonderful selection of fruits and veggies. Since I was poor, I would drive there. I've done better financially and now live and go to nicer supermarkets. But I have noticed a direct relationship between the amount, quality, variety and freshness of fruits and veggies in rich vs poor neighborhoods. Personally, I always chucked it down to overall profitability per user. For example, rich people supermarkets have many more low profit/even loss leaders, because the average bill is much higher. From my understanding, profitability per product varies tremendously in supermarkets (from loss leaders to products where the vast majority of the sale price is profit) In poor areas, the average bill is low, and losses from stealing/vandalism go way up (I actually found a human feces laying on the floor in the poor neighborhood market I went to) I'm guessing perishables have way lower profitability vs canned/packaged goods. America has such a huge divide between areas, it's like different worlds: people talk, dress, and act very differently. My guess is this is better in places with less separation between rich and poor (like dense cities), since the supermarkets have to offer good stuff to the poor if they want to reach the rich.