An AnnoTATEd STudEnT RESEARCHEd ARgumEnT 203profitability and maintenance. It is simply irrational for a super-
market to invest in an urban area with less revenue potential,
size constraints, an unattractive locale, and an increased threat
of theft and defacement when it is so easy to turn a profit in
spacious and peaceful suburbia (Eisenhauer 131). Supermarkets
must have significant incentive, beyond humanitarian ends, if
they are to take the financial risk of entering a poor, urban
marketplace.
Certain cities are using the power of Tax Increment
Financing (TIF) districts to encourage supermarkets to invest in
urban centers. Under these redevelopment laws, tax revenues
from retail development or other commercial enterprises are
devoted, for a specified number of years, to infrastructural
improvement of the district (“TIF Reform”). This approach has
been effective in enticing new businesses; in fact, the exterior
growth around South Bend is the result of a TIF district estab-
lished in the late 1980s. LaSalle Square is currently part of a TIF
district, but there is discussion as to how the TIF monies should
best be applied (Wolfson). It may be possible to use the power
of the TIF to encourage another large retailer such as Kroger to
establish a presence in the square, but a smaller enterprise may
be a better option. Experts indicate that for the destitute and
food-insecure, reliance on a corporate entity is not optimal.
Elizabeth Eisenhauer, a researcher from the State University of
New York, investigated the interplay between supermarkets and
the urban poor; she concluded that large big-box stores lack a
commitment to the communities they serve and can be relied
on only when it is clear they will make a profit, which may or
may not happen when TIF benefits expire (131). Even when a
portion of proceeds is used in the community, the majority of
the cash flow from a supermarket is going to a corporate head-
quarters elsewhere, not directly supporting the surrounding
neighborhood. Likewise, while some employees may be local,
the highest-salary management positions are generally given
to outsiders, making the stores and their employees set apart,
rather than integrated into the neighborhood (Eisenhauer 130).
Certainly a supermarket in an urban area will greatly contribute
to the reduction of food insecurity, but it is not the onlyShe takes an active
stance in citing initia-
tives that could be
applied more effectively
to alleviate the problem
of food insecurity.She paraphrases a
researcher’s findings.Paul 5907_GRE_5344_Ch7_151_210.indd 203 11/19/14 1:59 PM