Understanding the Economic Concepts and Characteristics of Food Access
Background
Conceptualizing, measuring, and distinguishing an area with low access to affordable and nutritious foods as a food desert is not straightforward. The concept of access is related to the location and availability of different types of food stores (e.g., supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores). But it also encompasses the availability, quality, variety, and price of foods, sometimes particular foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Access is also related to community-level characteristics, for example, whether the area is amenable to walking, near public transportation or safe from crime. Special issues of access for low income participants of USDA food and nutrition assistance programs include whether benefits are accepted at food retailers, whether participants can purchase the foods their benefits allow (e.g. fresh fruits and vegetables for WIC participants), and whether food access may affect participation in the programs. Underlying the context of access to affordable and nutritious food are the choices made by both retailers, who choose to locate and operate stores in areas where they can survive and profit and consumers, who choose which foods to buy and choose to live in areas based on a variety of reasons such as the affordability of housing and access to amenities such as supermarkets.
This research will address the following questions:
What are the concepts and measures that have been used to describe access to affordable and nutritious foods in this area? What aspects of access do these approaches capture and what aspects are not captured?
What is the food environment in this area (particularly with respect to food stores)? Given this food environment, what are the barriers in access to foods? What are the barriers to reducing the problem of low access?
What are the population and community-level characteristics of this area (e.g. race/ethnicity; household income level; unemployment rates; availability of public transportation systems; crime rates; population growth)? How do these characteristics interact with the food environment to contribute to lack of access?
What types of programs or policies have been implemented or may possibly be implemented to mitigate the effects of low access to affordable and nutritious foods? For example, community and economic development initiatives and incentives for retail food market development, including supermarkets, small grocery stores, farmers markets and transportation subsidies.
Funded Research:
Characteristics of Potential Spatial Access to a Variety of Fruits and Vegetables in a Large Rural Area
Joseph R. Sharkey, Texas A&M University
Finding Food Deserts: Methodology and Measurement of Food Access in Portland, Oregon
Andrea Sparks, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Neil Bania and Laura Leete, University of Oregon
Alternative Measures of Food Deserts: Fruitful Options or Empty Cupboards?
Jessie Fan, Lori Kowaleski-Jones, Cathleen D. Zick, Ken R. Smith, Barbara Brown, and Ikuho Yamada, University of Utah
Obesity, Fast Food, and Grocery Stores: Evidence from Geo-referenced Micro Data
Susan E. Chen, Raymond J.G.M. Florax, and Samantha D. Snyder, Purdue University
Measuring Food Access in Urban Areas
Kathryn M. Neckerman, Michael Bader, Marnie Purciel, and Paulette Yousefzadeh, Columbia University
Deserts in New Orleans? Illustrations of Urban Food Access and Implications for Policy
Donald Diego Rose, Tulane University
Funds for this competition are provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
Learn about past NPC small grants.
