Michelle Obama and Wal-Mart share the good news: Will better markets make a healthier nation?

Michelle Obama's good news at her press conference this week was that Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Supervalu, and other regional and independent food retailers will be opening and expanding produce sections in a total of 1,500 stores in an effort to address the health problems found in 'food deserts,' the low-income neighborhoods in America where good produce and healthy foods are difficult to find. According to the organizations involved, these improvements will effect 9.5 million individuals. So far so good. Food deserts are often sited as one of the underlying causes of American obesity, and according to a multi-state study sited by the Let's Move press release "for every additional supermarket in a neighborhood[,] produce consumption increases 32 percent in African Americans and 11 percent in whites." However, according to Reuters, a study released this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, says that access to fruits and vegetables in food deserts does not determine intake, but that the number of fast food restaurants in an area is indicative of how often men ate at them. (Dear Men, stop letting corporate chains influence you so much.) The article implied that the study did not take into consideration the appeal or price of the produce sections in these neighborhoods. If they're expanded and shined up will they more reliably draw a crowd? Let's hope. Clearly, the matter of cleaning up America's diet is not a simple one, but I think the issue is a combination of access and education. Improving produce options in under-served neighborhoods is certainly an important first step to try.

What's your instinct?

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