Reestablishing Healthy Food Retail: Changing the Landscape of Food Deserts

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Karpyn ◽  
Candace Young ◽  
Stephanie Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Food Deserts ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Retail

scholarly journals Beyond food swamps and food deserts: Exploring urban Australian food retail environment typologies

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Cindy Needham ◽  
Claudia Strugnell ◽  
Steven Allender ◽  
Liliana Orellana
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Food Deserts ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Retail ◽  
Retail Environment ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Food Outlets ◽  
Healthy Food Availability ◽  
Food Retail Environment

Abstract Objective: ‘Food deserts’ and ‘food swamps’ are food retail environment typologies associated with unhealthy diet and obesity. This study aimed to identify more complex food retail environment typologies and examine temporal trends. Design: Measures of food retail environment accessibility and relative healthy food availability were defined for small areas (SA2s) of Melbourne, Australia from a census of food outlets operating in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016. SA2s were classified into typologies using a two-stage approach: 1) SA2s were sorted into 20 clusters according to accessibility and availability; 2) clusters were grouped using evidence-based thresholds. Setting: This study was set in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. Subjects: Food retail environments in 301 small areas (Statistical Area 2) located in Melbourne in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016. Results: Six typologies were identified based on access (low, moderate and high) and healthy food availability including one where zero food outlets were present. Over the study period SA2s experienced an overall increase in accessibility and healthiness. Distribution of typologies varied by geographic location and area-level socioeconomic position. Conclusion: Multiple typologies with contrasting access and healthiness measures exist within Melbourne and these continue to change over time, the majority of SA2s were dominated by the presence of unhealthy relative to healthy outlets; with SA2s experiencing growth and disadvantage having the lowest access and to a greater proportion of unhealthy outlets.

scholarly journals Qualitative perspectives of the North Carolina healthy food small retailer program among customers in participating stores located in food deserts

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Haynes-Maslow ◽  
Stephanie B. Jilcott Pitts ◽  
Kathryn A. Boys ◽  
Jared T. McGuirt ◽  
Sheila Fleischhacker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Food Access ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Food Deserts ◽  
State Legislature ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
The State ◽  
The North

Abstract Background The North Carolina Healthy Food Small Retailer Program (NC HFSRP) was established through a policy passed by the state legislature to provide funding for small food retailers located in food deserts with the goal of increasing access to and sales of healthy foods and beverages among local residents. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine perceptions of the NC HFSRP among store customers. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 customers from five NC HFSRP stores in food deserts across eastern NC. Interview questions were related to shoppers’ food and beverage purchases at NC HFSRP stores, whether they had noticed any in-store efforts to promote healthier foods and beverages, their suggestions for promoting healthier foods and beverages, their familiarity with and support of the NC HFSRP, and how their shopping and consumption habits had changed since implementation of the NC HFSRP. A codebook was developed based on deductive (from the interview guide questions) and inductive (emerged from the data) codes and operational definitions. Verbatim transcripts were double-coded and a thematic analysis was conducted based on code frequency, and depth of participant responses for each code. Results Although very few participants were aware of the NC HFSRP legislation, they recognized changes within the store. Customers noted that the provision of healthier foods and beverages in the store had encouraged them to make healthier purchase and consumption choices. When a description of the NC HFSRP was provided to them, all participants were supportive of the state-funded program. Participants discussed program benefits including improving food access in low-income and/or rural areas and making healthy choices easier for youth and for those most at risk of diet-related chronic diseases. Conclusions Findings can inform future healthy corner store initiatives in terms of framing a rationale for funding or policies by focusing on increased food access among vulnerable populations.

scholarly journals Successful Implementation and Elements of Healthy Food Retail Programs: Extension Professionals Perceptions (P04-167-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Nussbaumer ◽  
Kristin Riggsbee ◽  
Elizabeth Anderson Steeves ◽  
Elizabeth Hall ◽  
Christopher Sneed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Food Retail ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Extension Professionals ◽  
Extension Staff

Abstract Objectives The objective of this cross-sectional, exploratory study was to understand the perceptions of healthy food retail programs (HFRP) by Extension professionals in low-income communities to determine strategies for successful implementation of HFRP. Methods Thirty Extension agents and county directors from one state in the southeastern U.S. were recruited via emails, and 53.3% (n = 16) completed a demographics questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted and recorded using online video conferencing software and took place in August and September 2018. Participants were asked about their definitions of HFRP, what challenges and benefits they had observed during HFRP implementation in their communities, and to identify strategies that would increase the success of HFRP programs. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by two researchers independently using multiple coding mechanisms. Results Most participants were white (87.5%), female (93.7%), and had worked for Extension for 0–5 years (37.5%). Participants did not have any prior experience with HFRP; therefore, the qualitative data revolved around their interpretation of a HFRP, which varied. Participants noted the following as components needed for a successful HFRP implementation: working in both corporate supermarkets and local mom-and-pop stores; promoting healthy food retail options; and conducting food demonstrations. One emergent theme was that HFRP would bring immense benefits to their communities, including expanding the recognition of Extension and a higher consumption of healthier foods among community members. One barrier identified was current county-level evaluation practices for policy, systems, and environment (PSE) approaches, which Extension staff are evaluated upon, not currently fully capturing HFRP interventions. Adequate training of HFRP was another theme that was identified, with agents requesting in-person, hands-on techniques. Conclusions Extension staff perceive that HFRP implementation may provide benefits to low-income communities. However, one specific need that was identified is hands-on training prior to initiation of HFRP. Additionally, participants requested new approaches for evaluating PSE programs like HFRP. Funding Sources No funding sources.

Investigating business outcomes of healthy food retail strategies: A systematic scoping review

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1384-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda R. Blake ◽  
Kathryn Backholer ◽  
Emily Lancsar ◽  
Tara Boelsen‐Robinson ◽  
Catherine Mah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Retail ◽  
Business Outcomes

Food Desert or Food Oasis? Insights from Mexican Chicago

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-89
Author(s):  
Coline Ferrant ◽  
Gary Alan Fine
Keyword(s):  
Food Access ◽  
Food Deserts ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Food Desert ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Food Oasis

In those neighborhoods that epidemiologists identify as “food deserts,” access to food is difficult and limited to unhealthy options, whereas in “food oases,” access to healthy food is easier and widely available. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Mexican Chicago, this article moves from the deterministic, spatial frameworks of food deserts and food oases toward a meaning-centered framework of residents' creation of food access and acquisition. Many residents feel that, given the metropolitan structure of Chicago, they can access the resources necessary for their gastronomic lives. Further, they do not conceive of food access as embedded in a static environment but as created from their activities and their opportunities for mobility. They treat the wider Chicago metropolis as their community, particularly areas that are easily accessible by car. Immigrants explain that they can find products from their homeland. They report that compared to past decades, the availability of Mexican products is greater today: both a larger variety of products and an increased diversity of outlets that sell these products. These findings suggest that in the case of Mexican Chicago, the dual imageries of food desert and food oasis are inadequate. Residents highlight access to transportation and the presence of stores that cater to a wide variety of eaters.

scholarly journals Technology to Address Food Deserts: Low Energy Corner Store Groceries with Integrated Agriculture Greenhouse

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7565
Author(s):  
Fahad Awjah Almehmadi ◽  
Kevin P. Hallinan ◽  
Rydge B. Mulford ◽  
Saeed A. Alqaed
Keyword(s):  
Food Deserts ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Healthy Foods ◽  
Corner Store ◽  
Integrated Agriculture ◽  
Innovation And Technology ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Chp System ◽  
Healthy Food Access

Food deserts have emerged as sources of urban crises around the world. The lack of access to healthy food has rendered health inequities that have been made more visible by the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the populations experiencing food insecurity and healthy food access. Research is posed to fight food deserts through innovation and technology; specifically, through the development of corner store grocery markets with integrated agricultural greenhouses in such a way as to both provide access to healthy foods at reasonable cost to better meet nutritional needs, and significantly reduce operating costs. The posed technology includes a combined heat and power (CHP) system to reduce overall energy costs by meeting the partial electric and thermal loads required within the store and the connected greenhouse. A mathematical model is developed to control the operation of the CHP system and to dispatch the generated electric power to the store and the thermal energy to the greenhouse to minimize overall energy requirements. The model is applied to an ambient environment representing a heating-dominant climate. Results indicate the potential to reduce operating costs by 55% in a heating-dominant climate.

Food deserts: is it only about a limited access?

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (7) ◽  
pp. 1495-1510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francine Rodier ◽  
Fabien Durif ◽  
Myriam Ertz
Keyword(s):  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Food Deserts ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Product Diversification ◽  
Mediation Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Geographical Access ◽  
Food Education ◽  
Cooking Classes ◽  
Main Factor

Purpose Previous research has extensively examined “food deserts,” where access to healthy food is limited. However, little is known of the buying behavior at the individual household level in terms of buying habits and consumption in these areas. The purpose of this paper is to determine to what extent other factors than access can account for the purchase of healthy food products, namely, fruits and vegetables. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes to partially fill this gap through a qualitative (n=55) and quantitative (n=512) study of those people who are in charge of their household purchases in two food deserts in the city of Montreal. Findings Results show that geographical access to supermarkets is not the main factor fostering the purchase of healthy foods (fruits and vegetables). Indeed, food education (e.g. information, simple recipes, cooking classes), associated with a changing mediation process through product diversification (e.g. availability of local products in bulk) and supply (e.g. farmers) seems to be more significant. Research limitations/implications Future studies could compare the results obtained through this study in different socio-demographic contexts. Longitudinal analyses could also increase the understanding of the social and commercial challenges. Originality/value In contrast to previous studies, the results show that geographical access to supermarkets is not the main factor fostering the purchase of fruits and vegetables. Indeed, food education (e.g. information, simple recipes, cooking classes), associated with a changing mediation process through product diversification (e.g. products in bulk) and supply (e.g. farmers) seem to be more significant.

Disparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 876-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee E. Walker ◽  
Christopher R. Keane ◽  
Jessica G. Burke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Deserts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthy Food
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document