Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food—Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences: Report to Congress
by
Michele Ver Ploeg,
Vince Breneman,
Tracey Farrigan,
Karen Hamrick, David Hopkins, Phillip Kaufman,
Biing-Hwan Lin,
Mark Nord, Travis A. Smith,
Ryan Williams, Kelly Kinnison, Carol Olander, Anita Singh, and Elizabeth Tuckermanty
Administrative Publication No. (AP-036) 160 pp, June 2009
Cover image for ap036
This report fills a request for a study of food deserts—areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food—from the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The report summarizes findings of a national-level assessment of the extent and characteristics of food deserts, analysis of the consequences of food deserts, lessons learned from related Federal programs, and a discussion of policy options for alleviating the effects of food deserts. Overall, findings show that a small percentage of consumers are constrained in their ability to access affordable nutritious food because they live far from a supermarket or large grocery store and do not have easy access to transportation.
Keywords: Food deserts, food access, supermarkets, grocery stores, food prices, low-income communities, rural areas, urban areas, small towns, transportation, obesity, diet, poverty, policy options
In this publication...
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Report summary, Pdf file 163 kb
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Abstract, Contents, and Summary, Pdf file 231 kb
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Introduction, Pdf file 72 kb
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The Extent of Limited Food Access in the United States, Pdf file 2,987 kb
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The Interaction of Neighborhood and Household Characteristics in Explaining Areas With Limited Access, Pdf file 81 kb
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Food Access and Its Relationship to Diet and Health Outcomes, Pdf file 68 kb
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Food Access and Its Relationship To Food Choice, Pdf file 121 kb
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The Economics of Supermarket and Grocery Store Location, Pdf file 60 kb
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Community Food Projects, Pdf file 88 kb
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Policy Options, Pdf file 163 kb
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Future Research Needs, Pdf file 52 kb
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Appendix A: Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Understanding Food Deserts, Pdf file 39 kb
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Appendix B: Measures of Access Used in Food Desert and Related Studies, Pdf file 186 kb
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Appendix C: Methods, Supporting Tables, and Maps for National-Level Analysis of Supermarket Access, Pdf file 702 kb
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Appendix D: Examples of Community Food Projects by Type of Project, Pdf file 75 kb
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Entire report, Pdf file 3,620 kb
Charts and graphs (in .png format) from this report are available in the .zip file listed below. The .zip file also contains a document (readme.txt) that lists the name and title of each chart or graph file.
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