Missing Market Project
Across California, too many neighborhoods have lost grocery stores and never seen food access return. The Missing Market Project is [...]
The facts are undeniable—Black Californians experience some of the highest rates of food insecurity, impacted by both historical and persistent systemic racism, harmful stereotypes, and administrative barriers when trying to access essential safety net programs. We are no longer just documenting these disparities. It’s time to act.
2026 Focus
In 2026, the Black Food Justice Campaign will prioritize dismantling restrictive land-use covenants that prohibit grocery store use and contribute to persistent food apartheid in Black California communities.
AB 1857 would make private covenants in deeds and leases that restrict property from being used as a grocery store or supermarket void and unenforceable. These private restrictions function as structural barriers to food access, reinforcing racial disinvestment and limiting competition in communities already shaped by historic exclusion.
In support of AB 1857, we are launching the Missing Market Project: a community-led research effort that will document former grocery store sites where food access has not returned. Grocery corporations have historically made intentional choices to divest in many neighborhoods, especially in predominantly Black communities.