Without blaming anyone who has to live there, a society that creates downtown "Food deserts" are another reason to equate Frozen Texas Toast and the End of the World.
Maybe not the end of the world, but certainly a society that lets profits decide what's good for the people above all else. Detroit is an unbelievable place in many ways, but one of the idiosyncratic things about it is that it has around 800,000 people and 0 chain grocery stores. There is a farmers market once per week, and a number of small corner stores, but no major grocery retailers for 800,000 people (by contrast the 8 grocery stores I mentioned in my post serve ~100,000 people in the suburbs). That will change soon, as a Whole Foods is set to open next summer. I will shop there, but I don't know how much it will change the lives of many of the residents, a fair number of whom probably can't afford to shop there.
b_b, this morning I mentioned your comment to my housemate, and he immediately said, "oh, like a food desert." He was already well versed on this issue and our conversation turned into a short history of how my little section of San Diego, called City Heights, became an urban farming hub (farmers markets with EBT, vacant lots into farming space, etc.). The root of this history: City Heights was once designated a food desert. I am learning. We also watched a TED talk on the subject/movement given by LaDonna Redmond, a Chicago-based food systems activist. She visits a lot of the issues you mentioned in your first comment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWukl6lqyJI