The Market Works, But Not How Our Betters Would Like

Here is the type of story that just make my skin crawl. It tells of a vast difference between the types of food stores and food available for sale in two parts of New York City that are demographic polar opposites and sociological stand-ins for white/wealth and minority/poverty. To sum, the article refers to a report by the Health Department that poor, minority Harlem has more fast food stores than the Upper East Side, as well as fewer stores that sell fresh vegetables and other healthful foods than the UES. As if this is some conspiracy of the wealthy against the poor. This fact is the natural outcome of consumer preference, the demand for more healthful foods in poorer neighborhoods is low. If healthful foods were in high demand in Harlem, stores would respond by stocking them. If fast food were shunned as serving unfit food in poorer neighborhoods, such outlets would not proliferate there; just as fast food has limited appeal to the residents of the UES and healthful foods have great appeal. The headline here should be that the market works wonderfully, providing people exactly the type of food they want close to home.