Comments Elsewhere

Brandon, this:

To this end, the attempt to move farmer’s markets into poorer neighborhoods seems good, as does the idea that opposition to big grocery stores in urban neighborhoods should be dropped.

… is not a description of a “market failure,” at least not in the sense that you’re thinking of. The first part entertains one form of entrepreneurship within the free market (moving where you set up your market). The second part is a description of government obstruction through zoning and planning authorities. It may very well be true that a free market in groceries in urban areas still wouldn’t result in American-born poor people buying a lot of fresh produce. But the ability to calculate whether it would or would not is hampered by the fact that there isn’t a free market process in place right now, since (among other things) larger grocers are often forcibly excluded from the market.