We have provided examples of relevant research regarding issues in food security and food system programming. We will periodically update these, but, if you have examples to share with us, we will be happy to consider posting them.
Articles
Retail Stores in Poor Urban Neighborhoods
Alwitt & Donley, 1997
FROM THE ABSTRACT: As expected poor zip code areas in Chicago have fewer and smaller retail outlets overall than non-poor areas, including fewer supermarkets. Residents of poor neighborhoods must travel more than two miles to have access to the same numbers of supermarkets, large drug stores, banks, and other types of stores as residents of non-poor areas.
The Impact of Cost on the Availability of Fruits and Vegetables in Homes of School Children in Birmingham, Alabama
Ard, Fitzpatrick, Desmond, Sutton, Pisu, Allison, Franklin & Baskin, 2007
RESULTS: Higher cost was inversely related to fruit and vegetable availability.Higher income, African American race, and female gender were positively related to availability. Cost per serving was stratified into three categories—low, medium, and high. Relative to low-cost items, only high-cost items decreased the odds of availability significantly.
FROM THE DISCUSSION: A higher income increased the odds of having an item in the home, but only modestly. This modest effect suggests that the impact of income on obesity may be mediated through other avenues aside from limiting availability of fruits and vegetables in the home. That is, as the category of income increased, the odds of reporting an item available at home increased by just 3 percent, indicating that those with higher incomes were not necessarily using the additional income to purchase a wider variety of fruits and vegetables largely different from those in lower income brackets.
CONCLUSIONS: Fruit and vegetable cost does impact availability and has the greatest impact for high-cost items. Although cost was inversely related to availability, African Americans reported higher fruit and vegetable availability than Whites. Additional studies are needed to determine whether food items of lower nutritive value and comparable cost impact availability.
Neighborhood Resources for Physical Activity & Healthy Foods and Their Association with Insulin Resistance
Auchincloss, Diez Roux, Brown, Erdmann & Bertoni, 2008
DISCUSSION: In this cross-sectional study, insulin resistance was negatively associated with suitable residential environments for physical activity and for purchasing healthy foods. Associations between insulin resistance and physical activity environments persisted after adjustment for individual level variables. For example, adjusted for age, sex, family history of diabetes, race/ethnicity, income and education, insulin resistance was 17 percent lower per increase from the 10th to 90th percentile in neighborhood physical activity resources (CI = -31% to –1%). Neighborhood healthy food resources were similarly inversely associated with insulin resistance although the association was attenuated after adjustment for race and ethnicity. Results also suggested that individual-level diet and physical activity mediate the observed associations, both directly and via obesity (BMI). Residing farther from area resources was also associated with insulin resistance, although associations were weaker than for the neighborhood measures.in scale and transportation.
Snacking in Children: The Role of Urban Corner Stores
Borradaile, Sherman, Vander Veur, McCoy, Sandoval, Nachmani, Karpyn & Foster, 2011
METHODS: This was an observational study from January to June 2008. Participants were children in grades 4 through 6 from 10 urban K-8 schools with 50 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. A total of 833 intercept surveys of children’s purchases were conducted outside 24 corner stores before and after school. The main outcomes were type and energy content of items purchased.
RESULTS: The most frequently purchased items were energy-dense, low-nutritive foods and beverages, such as chips, candy, and sugar- sweetened beverages.Students spent $1.07 ± 0.93 on 2.1 ± 1.3 items (1.6 ± 1.1 food items and 0.5 ±0.6 beverage items) per purchase. The total number of calories purchased per trip was 1497.7 ± 1219.3 kJ (356.6 ± 290.3 kcal). More calories came from foods than from beverages.
Do the Poor Pay More for Food? An Analysis of Grocery Store Availability and Food Price Disparities
Chung & Myers, 1999
FROM THE ABSTRACT: This study reveals that the biggest factor contributing to higher grocery costs in poor neighborhoods is that large chain stores, where prices tend to be lower, are not located in these neighborhoods.
A Corner Store Intervetion in a Low-Income Urban Community is Assoication with Increased Avaliability & Sales of Some Healthy Foods
Hee-Jung Song, Joel Gittelsohn, Miyong Kim, Sonali Suratkar, Sangita Sharma and Jean Anliker, 2009
Neighborhood Food Environments and Body Mass Index The Importance of In-Store Contents
Rose, Hutchinson, Bodor, Swalm, Farley, Cohen & Rice 2009
The neighborhood availability of energy-dense snack foods within 1 kilometer of an individual’s residence was positively associated with BMI, after controlling for individual and household-level characteristics. An additional 100 meters of shelf-space for snack foods was associated with an increase in 0.1 BMI units. At this rate, an increase equivalent to 1 SD in the neighborhood shelf-space of energy-dense snack foods would translate to about two extra pounds for a person who is 5′5″. Positive associations were also found when availability was disaggregated into specific types of snack foods, that is, when salty snacks, candies, and carbonated beverages were analyzed separately. There were no significant associations of BMI with the availability of fruits and vegetables.
Fruit & Vegetable Intake in African Americans Income & Store Characteristics
Zenk, et al, 2005
RESULTS: Women shopping at supermarkets and specialty stores consumed fruit and vegetables more often, on average, than those shopping at independent grocers. More positive perceptions of the selection/quality, but not affordability, of fresh produce at the retail outlet where they shopped was positively associated with intake, independent of store type and location as well as age, per capita income, and years of education. The results suggested an indirect association between income and fruit and vegetable intake; women with higher per capita incomes were more likely to shop at supermarkets than at other grocers, which in turn was associated with intake.
Strategies for increasing fruit and vegetable intake in grocery stores and communities: policy, pricing, and environmental change
Glanz & Yaroch, 2004
METHODS: The strategies, examples, and research reported here were identified through an extensive search of published journal articles, reports, and inquiries to leaders in the field. Recommendations were expanded with input from participants in the CDC/ACS-sponsored Fruit and Vegetable, Environment Policy and Pricing Workshop held in September of 2002.
RESULTS: Four key types of grocery-store-based interventions include point-of-purchase (POP) information; reduced prices and coupons; increased availability, variety, and convenience; and promotion and advertising. There is strong support for the feasibility of these approaches and modest evidence of their efficacy in influencing eating behavior. Church-based programs, child care center policies, and multisectoral community approaches show promise.