Summary: Super Market After Hurricane Katrina

Almost everywhere in the world food access is a problem for some people. This is very true for many neighborhoods in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina, many neighborhoods were destroyed or badly damaged. This not only affected the ability for people to live there, but also the ability for many stores to stay in business. According to popular economic theory, firms will only enter a market if they believe they can make an economic profit. After Katrina, with many consumers either relocating or not having enough money to regularly shop at supermarkets and grocery stores, new food stores were unlikely to open up. Without knowing how many people would return to New Orleans and where in the city they would return to, the market in New Orleans was unpredictable after Hurricane Katrina. This made for …show more content…
Before Katrina there were disparities in access to super markets across New Orleans. Right after the hurricane, access decreased greatly and did not return to the pre-Katrina levels after a few years of observance (Rose, 2011). Before Katrina predominately African-American neighborhoods, which are often lower socioeconomic stats neighborhoods, had relatively less access to supermarkets and this disparity increased after the storm (Rose, 2011). Even though super markets came back after a few years, there were still racial disparities in their access. After Katrina many lots were abandoned and have stayed that way for many years after. It can be difficult to redevelop these lots that have been unused for many years. Similarly, many of these affected lots are located in areas where stores have not previously prospered leading to a lack of stores that want to be located there and a larger need for fresh food access (New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee, 2007). Hurricane Katrina expanded the already present disparities in access to