Participation in the local food movement has grown dramatically in the United States with the farmers’ market being one of its most widespread and heavily promoted forums (Gillespie 2007). Movement proponents have hailed this shift from "conventional" food production as a tactic that introduces more environmentally sustainable and socially just outcomes for society. In this light, proponents have argued that the interactions and transactions that occur at farmers’ markets benefit market participants, but, more importantly, have broader benefits for the neighborhoods they are located in and for society itself (Lyson 2007). Quite differently, research on food deserts, places that have limited to no access to the conventional food system and high levels of poverty, has documented these areas to be plagued by numerous social ills at both the individual and neighborhood level. For example, an extensive body of research has shown that the individuals living in these areas have diets that deviate substantially from what is considered to be nutritional and that neighborhoods, on average, have worse health outcomes compared to neighborhoods not considered to be food desert. While the effects of living in a food desert are fairly well known, much less is known about the efforts to alleviate the situation. One such proscription that has been suggested to contribute to better food access in food deserts has been the previously mentioned local foods movement, particularly its farmers’ market tactic. The promise of benefits by the local food movement to society generally and to food deserts specifically raises several important questions, notably: where are farmers’ markets located and who has access to them? While the movements popularity and tactical development has been lauded in the media and academia, few works have examined farmers’ markets locations nationally and little evidence exists to systematically describe the neighborhoods they are in or the individuals that live close by. This dissertation begins this conversation by examining the efficacy of the farmers’ market, the flagship facet of the local foods movement, is at reaching its stated goals, particularly the cultivating the access for the democratization of food access. Using data from the USDA and US Census, this dissertation examines the local foods movement broadly and its relationship with food deserts. The first analysis explores the location of farmers’ markets areas across several geographic measurements, including at the national, region/division, and at the census tract levels. The second analysis conducts multivariate logistic analysis to investigate where farmers’ markets are founded in the US using several identifying characteristics of the individuals living around a market and characteristics of the neighborhood itself. The last analysis investigates how often farmers’ markets are in founded in food deserts by examining the historical record of each phenomena, in addition to analyzing contemporary cross sectional data. The analyses have several interesting findings. At the individual level, analysis suggests significant social, educational, economic and racial differences exist between those living in a farmers’ market neighborhood when compared to neighborhoods that do not. For example, despite not being as white of a movement as critics have suggested (Guthman 2012), farmers’ markets are almost exclusively a middle to upper-middle class phenomenon. Additionally, several neighborhood variables are found to significantly influence the likelihood of where a farmers’ market may be present, including a neighborhoods SES status, the quality of neighborhood infrastructure, the average participation rate in social support programs, the location of a neighborhood on the urban to rural continuum, and the prevalence of poverty. For example, farmers’ markets are very unlikely to be found in neighborhoods with lower than average socio-economic statuses indicators, crumbling infrastructures, in certain segments of the US, and, somewhat paradoxically, rural areas. The last analysis suggests that although much press and praise is given to the promise of farmers’ markets alleviating food deserts that, overall, they rarely cross paths. Neither of the historical records of farmers’ markets and food deserts suggests that we should expect significant overlap between the two. Statistical analysis offers more evidence about this in that farmers’ markets are infrequently found in areas that are considered food deserts. This research contributes to our understanding of how social movement outcomes by examining the avenues and potential limitations that grassroots movements negotiate while ensuring their stated goals are reached. Specifically this research contributes to illuminating the present state of the local food outlets, while proposing several questions about food accessibility for individuals located in food deserts and food oases.