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Abstract
Alternative food systems make consumers think about food as more than a commodity, as a social relation. Many of these systems, such as local, organic, non-GMO, farmers' markets, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), are positioned as supplements to the conscious consumer's diet rather than the one-stop shop to purchase all of their food. These alternatives to traditional food attempt to achieve social change from the periphery, rather than at the core, leaving them with limited ability to impact systemic social change. The core of food systems, on the contrary, has access to millions of consumers and the potential to create systemic change. This core is the market between food producers and food consumers: the grocery store. This research addresses grocery store marketing regulations, standards, and practices because I wanted to learn what role grocery stores have in constructing consumer food choices so that grocery stores can be held responsible and seen as an intervention point for the increasing rates of diet-related public health issues in low-income populations. This thesis finds that there is a lack of public regulations and the dominance of private industry standards and practices that govern grocery industry marketing of processed, shelf-stable foods over whole, fresh foods.