The Quality Turn of Food Deserts into Food Oases in European Cities: Market Opportunities for Local Producers

The current conventional food system is led by large-scale agribusinesses, characterized by industrialized production and increasing distance between food production and consumption. In response, alternative food initiatives (AFIs) have typically emerged as grassroots initiatives that may not be uniformly distributed or accessible. Food deserts, areas with limited access to healthy and affordable food, are often discussed without considering food quality. Addressing this, this article aims to assess food deserts for healthy, local, and sustainable products in 11 European cities, comparing conditions before and after the implementation of innovative actions focused on shortening food chains during three years of study. The methodology involves locating alternative production and consumption spaces (APSs and ACSs) and drawing a walking distance around them, identifying densely populated areas outside these radii as food deserts. The results show that the implementation of AFIs has reduced food deserts in 9 out of 11 cities (average from 10.1% at T0 to 7.4% at Tf), opening new market opportunities for local producers and increasing consumer access to local and sustainable produce. The implementation of this study’s approach can potentially transform food deserts into food oases, enhancing food security and sustainability.