Also the term "food desert" is already being replaced by "food apartheid," which better highlights the structures and decisions behind the phenomenon.

How does “food apartheid” better describe the situation?

"Desert" implies force of nature. "Apartheid" implies human action.

How is the decision of businesses on where to have stores like “apartheid”?

Those decisions are based heavily on the knock-on impacts of things like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining.

Fascinating. I knew of this in general but never had a term to attach to it. Thanks the link.