Poverty, the Cities, and the Food Delivery System

Entering the decade of the 80's, the U.S. faces a number of difficult challenges carried over from the decade just ended. A pressing domestic problem is that of poverty, and its many manifestations. Major cities are confronted with a particularly difficult problem. Concentrations of low-income persons, unemployment, congestion, dilapidated structures, high crime rates, struggling education systems, and deteriorated business and economic conditions, create a seemingly impossible morass of redevelopment problems. One aspect of the decline of the cities that has had particularly serious consequences, is the gradual deterioration of the food delivery system there. It is especially critical because of its implications for the diets and budgets of low-income families.