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Finding Food Deserts Based on Food Access Index and Transportation Modes Case Study of Sarasota County, Fl
Yoon, Sul Hee
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[Gainesville, Fla.]
University of Florida
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Master's ( M.A.U.R.P.)
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University of Florida
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Urban and Regional Planning
Committee Chair:
Bejleri, Ilir
Committee Co-Chair:
Steiner, Ruth L
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Censuses ( jstor )
Cities ( jstor )
Counties ( jstor )
Deserts ( jstor )
Food ( jstor )
Food stores ( jstor )
Grocery stores ( jstor )
Low income ( jstor )
Supermarkets ( jstor )
Walking ( jstor )
Urban and Regional Planning -- Dissertations, Academic -- UF
food-access -- food-desert -- sarasota
Sarasota County ( local )
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theses ( marcgt )
government publication (state, provincial, terriorial, dependent) ( marcgt )
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Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Urban and Regional Planning thesis, M.A.U.R.P.
Access to healthy food has become a vital issue in urban and rural for better quality of life, disease prevention, and an essential element for health growth. The areas with limited access to food are examined as 'food desert' and this area include physical and socioeconomic disparities. This thesis evaluated the spatial accessibility of 'healthy food outlets' in relation to walking and driving transportation network. This study created criteria to evaluate physical distance to healthy food outlets: Food access index. (1) Geographic Information System (GIS) is applied to measure Manhattan block distance to the nearest healthy food outlets for 204 Census block neighborhoods in Sarasota County, FL. (2) Using street network analysis, walking (0.5 mile) and driving (10 miles) buffers around healthy food outlets are created to determine residents' food accessibly and to assess food desert. (3) Additionally, t-test for each transportation mode is used to understand the relationship between food access index and vehicle ownership. The findings from this study (1) illustrates three levels of demographical distribution of food access (high, medium, and low) and (2) identifies there are about 34.1% of the total population live in food desert areas. (3) Additionally, statistical result shows a positive relationship between vehicle ownership and food access when residents drive to buy healthy foods. This basically implies population with low percentage of vehicle ownership has less healthy food accessibly in the case study area. This study found that there is a noticeable disparity in geographic access to healthy food outlets based on transportation mode, auto vs. walking. These findings have implications for future transportation planning food policy planning. ( en )
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Thesis (M.A.U.R.P.)--University of Florida, 2011.
Adviser: Bejleri, Ilir.
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by Sul Hee Yoon.
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1 FINDING FOOD DESERTS BASED ON FOOD ACCESS INDEX AND TRANSPORTATION MODES: CASE STUDY OF SARASOTA COUNTY, FL By SULHEE YOON A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011
2 2011 S ulhee Y oon
3 To my mother and father, for all their support and myself
4 ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS I would like to give a special thanks to my chair Dr. Ilir Bejleri, for his continued patien ce and feedback. Ilir guided me in a right direction whenever I was having a difficulty working on my thesis and my interest endeavor while studying in Urban and Regional Planning department. He helped me to gain better understanding for the bigger pictures. I would also a ppreciate my co chair Dr. Ruth Steiner, who provided me valuable instruction, and guidance throughout this entire process. She is an admirable professor and from her I have learned the importance of working with something that I fee l passionate about. Nex t, I also need to acknowledge staff in UF/IFAS Sarasota County Extension Office. Specially, I would like to thank Dr. Charlie Vavrina, Dr. Robert Kluson and Evangeline "Van" Linkous for their belief in me and providing resources that I can continue my res earch. Additionally I want to thank professor Dr. Sang moon Lee who gives me continuous moral and academic support from South Korea. I am very lucky to have wonderful people in my life. I would also likely to t hank all the people who spent time with me in Urban and Regional Planning (faculty, staff, and colleagues). both in United States and South Korea who always listen to my complaints patiently. Last but certainly n ot least, I would like to thank my parents in South Korea. I could not be here without their love and endless support. I cannot wait to give them a huge hug.
5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS ................................ ................................ ............................... 4 LIST OF TABLES ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 7 LIST OF FIGURES ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 8 ABSTRACT ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 12 Problem Statement ................................ ................................ ................................ 12 Research Objective and Questions ................................ ................................ ........ 13 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................ ................................ .......................... 15 Definition of Terms ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 16 Food Environment ................................ ................................ ............................ 16 Food Security and Insecurity ................................ ................................ ............ 17 Food Desert ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 18 Geographic Measures of Food Accessibility ................................ ........................... 18 Socioeconomic Food Inequality in the U.S. ................................ ............................ 19 Low Income Households ................................ ................................ .................. 19 Racial Segregation ................................ ................................ ........................... 21 Elderly Population ................................ ................................ ............................ 22 Transporta tion and Food Access ................................ ................................ ............ 23 Public Transportation Infrastructure ................................ ................................ 23 Vehicle Ownership ................................ ................................ ........................... 24 Types of F ood Stores ................................ ................................ .............................. 25 Food Purchasing Behavior and its Associations with Health ................................ .. 26 Summary ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 29 3 METHODOLOGY FOR MA PPING AND ANALYZING POTENTIAL FOOD DESERTS ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 33 Establishing Case Study Area ................................ ................................ ................ 33 Food Access/ Desert Study of Sarasota County ................................ ..................... 34 USDA Food Desert Locator: Food Desert in Sarasota County ......................... 34 TRF Policy Map: Food Access in Sarasota County ................................ .......... 35 County Health Ranking 2011: Access to Healthy Food in Sarasota County .... 35 Place to Buy a Gallon of Milk Analysis, Sarasota County ................................ 36 Summary of Previous Studies ................................ ................................ .......... 36 Creating Food Access Index: Indicators for Analysis ................................ .............. 37 Indicator 1: Healthy Food Outlet ................................ ................................ ....... 38
6 Indicator 2 1: Proximity and Coverage to Healthy Food Outlet ......................... 38 Indicator 2 2: Re assessing Food Access Index with Proximity to Healthy Food Outlets ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 39 Indica tor 3: Network according to Transportation (walking and driving) Modes ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 40 Distance from Residential Zone to Healthy Food Outlets ................................ 41 Application of Methodology: Using GIS to Measure Food Access .................... 41 4 FINDINGS AND RESULTS ................................ ................................ ..................... 45 Result from Previous Studies ................................ ................................ .................. 45 USDA Food Desert Locator: Food Desert in Sarasota County ......................... 45 TRF Policy Map: Food Access in Sarasota County ................................ .......... 46 County Health Ranking 2011: Access to Healthy Food in Sarasota County .... 46 Place to Buy a Gallon of Milk Analysis, Sarasota County ................................ 47 Food Access Index ................................ ................................ ................................ 47 Relationship between Food Access Index and Vehicle Ownership in each Transportation Network Boundary ................................ ................................ ....... 48 Food Deserts in Sarasota County ................................ ................................ ........... 50 Food Deserts for Pedestrian and Drivers ................................ ......................... 51 Food Deserts with Parcel Data ................................ ................................ ......... 52 Food Deserts Assessment with Socioeconomic Disparities ................................ .... 53 5 DISCUSSION ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 76 Food Policy and Food Assistance Programs ................................ .......................... 77 Community Gardens ................................ ................................ ............................... 79 Limitati on of this Study ................................ ................................ ............................ 80 Needs of Survey and Health Outcome ................................ ............................. 80 Transit Routes and Opportunity with Euclidean Distance ................................ 81 Definition of Healthy Food Outlets ................................ ................................ .... 82 Opportunity for Future Research ................................ ................................ ............ 82 6 CONCLUSION ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 85 APPENDIX: METHODOLOGY OF COUNTY HEALTH RANKING 2011 ....................... 87 LIST OF REFERENCES ................................ ................................ ............................... 88 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ................................ ................................ ............................ 92
7 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2 1 Examples of geographical accessibly measurement in previous studies ........... 31 3 1 2007 NAICS codes selected for healthy food outlets and its example of food services ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 43 3 2 Data inventory used to measure food outlet street network ................................ 43 3 3 Types and number of parcel data defined in residential land uses ..................... 43 4 1 USDA Food Desert Locator result of Sarasota County ................................ ....... 55 4 2 Explanation of Table 4 1 ................................ ................................ ..................... 55 4 3 Summary of Sarasota County access to healthy foods from County Health Rankings ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 56 4 4 Result of t test between two variables: vehicle ownership and food access index in miles walking network ................................ ................................ ....... 56 4 5 Result of t test between two variables: vehicle ownershi p and food access index in 10 miles driving network ................................ ................................ ........ 56 4 6 Land uses from parcel data included in food desert ................................ ........... 57
8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure p age 2 1 A conceptual model of the link between age, food access, and health outcomes ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 32 2 2 Types and definition of food stores. Source: Sharkey et al. (2010) .................... 32 3 1 Walking and driving distances from healthy food outlets (transportation network) ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 44 4 1 Food desert locations in Sarasota County. Source: USDA Food Desert Locator ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 59 4 2 TRF policy map of Sarasota County ................................ ................................ ... 60 4 3 Place to buy gallon of milk analysis, Sarasota County. ................................ ...... 61 4 4 Food access index from Census block centroid point to healthy food outlets ............ 62 4 5 Food access index from Census block centroid point to healthy food outlets ............ 63 4 6 Food access index of Sarasota County in walking network (1/2 mile) ................ 64 4 7 Food access index of Sarasota County in driving network (10 miles) ................. 65 4 8 Food deserts based on proximity to healthy food outlets and proximity and coverage to healthy food outlets ................................ ................................ ......... 66 4 9 Food deserts and EPLs ................................ ................................ ...................... 67 4 10 Food deserts, Sarasota County, FL (excluding EPLs) ................................ ........ 68 4 11 Food deserts for pedestrian ................................ ................................ ................ 69 4 12 Food deserts for drivers ................................ ................................ ...................... 70 4 13 Comparison between residential parcel and census block centroid point ........... 71 4 14 Food access index overlaid in r esidential land use parcel ................................ .. 72 4 15 Distribution of population with below poverty, and food deserts in Sarasota County, FL ................................ ................................ ................................ .......... 73 4 16 No vehicle ownership distribution, and food deserts in Sarasota County, FL ..... 74
9 4 17 Population 65 years older, and food deserts in Sarasota County, FL ................. 75 5 1 Community gardens in Sarasota County, FL Source: Sarasota County Green Map ................................ ................................ ................................ .................... 84
10 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning FINDING FOOD DESERTS BASED ON FOOD ACCESS INDEX AND TRANSPORTATION MODES: CASE STUDY OF SARASOTA COUNTY, FL By Sulhee Yoon December 2011 Chair: Ilir Bejleri CoChair: Ruth L. Steiner Major: Urban and R e gional Planning Access to healthy food has become a vital issue in urban and rural for better quality of life, disease prevention, and an essential element for health growth The areas with limited access to food are examined as food desert and this area include physica l and socioeconomic disparities. T h is thesis evaluated the spatial accessibility of healthy food outlets in relation to walking and driving transportation network. This study created criteria to evaluate physical distance to healthy food outlets: Food ac cess index. (1) Geographic Information System (GIS) is applied to measure Manhattan block distance to the nearest healthy food outlets for 204 Census block neighborhoods in Sarasota County, FL. (2) Using street network analysis, walking (0.5 mile) and driving (10 miles) buffers around healthy food outlets are created to determine residents food accessibly and to assess food desert (3) Additionally, t test for each transportation mode is used to understand the relation ship between food access index and vehicle ownership. The findings from this study (1) illustrates three levels of demographical distribution of food access (high, medium, and low) and (2) identif ies there are about
11 34.1% of the total population live in fo od desert areas. (3) Additionally, statistical result shows a positive relationship between vehicle ownership and food access when residents drive to buy healthy foods. This basically implies population with low percentage of vehicle ownership has less healthy food accessibly in the case study area. This study found that there is a noticeable disparity in geographic access to healthy food outlets based on transportation mode, auto vs. walking. These findings have implications for fu ture transp ortation planning food policy planning.
12 C HAPTER 1 I NTRODUCTION Problem Statement In early 2010, First L ady Michelle Obama brought s to the forefront and initiated the campaign. As part of the campaign p roposal to combat the rise o f Type 2 D iabetes among American youth, one of the United State s goal s wa s to decrease the rate of obesity by providing greater access to affo rdable healthy foods. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) stated that obesity increase s when food consumption take s place far from people s home s ( CDC, 2004 ) A reas that a re isolated and lack easy access to wholesome foods have been dubbed the rate of diabetes and obesity are higher among racial/ethnic minorities and lower income individuals in these areas Inhabitants of theses food deserts h ave fewer supermarket options and must rely on smaller convenience stores. A study in San Diego found that supermarket chains off er twice the average volume of foods compared to neighborhood stores, and sell four times the average volume of these foods compared to convenience stores (Morland et al., 2002a). Emphasizing the importance of supermarkets for better access to healthy food, the website explain s: More than 23 million Americans, including 6.5 million child r en live in low income urban and rural neighborhoods that are more than one mile from the nearest supermarket. Thes e communities, where access to affordable, communities, grocery stores that sell healthy foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables are inaccessible or healthy foods are too expe nsive. ( Move Campaign, 2010)
13 Food access has become a critical issue in urban and rural area s for the achievement of a better quality of life, disease prevention, and health y childhood growth However, these problems may be worse in food deserts which are also influenced by particular nei ghborhood environment s and transportation network s Therefore the existence of food desert s and restricted access to wholesome food s have been highlighted as features of the built and physical environment that have a socioeconomic dimension, and this may influence a community s current health status. Research O bjective and Q uestions The objective of this thesis is to address two factors related to food desert s : importance of proximity to de termine physical food access and the pedestrian or d river s perspective to acknowledge food deserts More specifically this study looks at how the network of roads and pedestrian walkways and paths that lead to neighborhood stores where food can be purchased determines access to healthy foods. For the objective, p roviding a spatial overview of where food deserts are located in our local area is needed and Sarasota County has been selected as a case study area Sarasota County has been named one of a high est ranked ies in the State of Florida ( 2011 County Health Ranking 1 ) According to 2011 County Health Ranking, about 83% of total population has an access and resources to wholesome foods compare d to other c ounties in Florida Throughout this work, the following big picture questions have guided this research: 1 Access to healthy food is measured based on the percent of residential Zip codes in a county with a kets
14 What is the definition of a food desert ? Is it absolute or does it varies from case to case? What types of factors would accurately determine food desert in terms of physical access to foods? Where is spatial inequality with regard to food access bas ed on physical proximity? How can this study contribute to the s olution s to reduce f ood desert s ?
15 C HAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The food environment is understood differently by every one of its s take holders, ranging from the government to industry leaders to general residents (Rex and Blair, 2003). It is influenced by interactive factors such as soc ial class food culture, life style of the population, and economic status insofar as it influence s food purchasing behavior This chapter provides an organized overview of the lit erature on spatial access to the food environment and its potentially ad verse health outcomes. The first section introduces a measurement method from previous studies Then the chapter continues with a review of food environment inequalities drawn from the consideration of s ocioeconomic factors and the physical barriers that community resident s experience based on the automobile dependent life style in the United States. Next, brief examples of methodological approaches will be discussed to provide comparisons among the lat est studies, with the intention of ident ifying a variable related to geographic or physical access that is based on physical distance the variability of neighborhood boundaries among different populations and the difficulty of creating units of analysis in spatial mapping. The reafter, food acc ess policy issues will be introduced because those organizations that are attempting to understand their local food environments would benefit tremendously from the ability to analyze particular food disparity areas spatially To conclude this chapter, a recap offers insight into social inequities in the distribution of affordable food sources and its relevance to a car dependen t culture Additionally in the final section of this chapter, an examin ation of quantitative methods and policies would suggest s ome possible models to follow.
16 Definition of T erms Food E nvironment What make s the food environment a current issue? The current interest in improving American s food environment has been sparked by the steady rise in the consumption of high calorie food since the 1970s. Physically this increased consumption appears to be linked to the distance between communities and their sources of healthy foods (such as full service grocery stores), consequently this may promote the consumption of unhealthy food s and increase the need for a better quality food environment. The CDC on their website defines a as follows : (Babey, 2008) ( Morla nd et al., 2002a ) The distribution of food stores, food service, and any physical entity by which food may be obtained, or (Morland et al., 2002a) A connected system that allows access to food ( Morland et al., 2002a ) Food environments that offer a greater variety of healthy food options at affordable prices may promote healthier food choices and could be called a healthy nutritious food environment A h ealthy nutritious food environment accompanied by increased rates of physical activity could help reduce the incidence of leading illness es in the U.S ., such a s obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (CDC, 2010). Although the interaction between food and city planning is limited, planners and local governments have suggested certain strategies for the creation and maint enance of healthy food environment s that relate to zoning, land use planning, transportation infrastructure community gardens, and so on ( Cl ifton, 2004 ) With regard to planning, it is important to define the important terms (such as food security/insecurity, and food desert s ) to
17 promote greater understanding of the connection between planning and the food environment (Reisig &Hobbiss, 2000) Food S ecurity and I nsecurity Food security refers to food environment in which people have physical access to food s that meet the national standard for safety freshness, and nutrition However challenges for planners arise when some households do not get enough foods in other words, when food is unequally distributed. Food security is a complex issue related to sustainable development, health economic growth the environment, and trade (World Health Organization, 2011). F ood insec has been defined by the United States Department of Agriculture s Economic Research Service ( USDA ERS) as a situation in which particular households are or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of al l their members because they ha ve insufficient m oney or sources for food (2009). In Florida, one study found that 14.2 percent of households, or over 1,000,000 households, are food insecure according to the USDA s definition (Nord, 2010). Th e percentage of food insecure was lower than the national average, but it nonetheless constitute d a significant number of household s in Florida Some reports indicate a relationship between socioeconomic status and food insecurity For example, approximately 46.2 million Americans are classified as poor and the poverty rate has now i ncreased to 15.1% the highest level since the early 1990s (Census Bureau 2000) Many of these people rely on federal food programs, such as Food Stamp s Bloch et al. (2009) provide evidence that foo d stamp us e in Florida has increased by a staggering 70 % between 2007 and 2009 which may help us to draw a conclusion about the food insecurity. Another study examined the association between food insecurity and
18 households had a 0.35 kg ( 0.77lb s ) /m 2 greater gain in body mass index (BMI) and a 0.65kg (1.43lbs) greater gain in weight compared with children from persistently food environment potentially presents many h ealth and wellness challenges and may be induced by inhabiting a food desert Food D esert The term f ood desert implies the presence of s ome form of food insecurity. Wrigley et al. (2002) elaborate on the subject of food deserts includ ing particular f actors like food availability, vari ety, and price. Those areas that are commonly indicated as food deserts are often regions that experience socioeconomic disparities. The USDA s ERS (2009) has define d food desert s as those area s in the U.S with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, particularly areas composed of predominantly lower income neighborhoods and communities Morton et al. (2005) identif ied several characteristics of a food desert ; namely, that a food deser t has a larger proportion s of residents without a high school degree, higher poverty rates, lower median family incomes, a low rate of vehicle ownership, a larger older population, and higher numbers of small grocery stores and convenience stores per capit a. Because food desert neighborhoods are believed to exhibit these extreme tendencies, their inhabitants may experience more profound effects than simply a lack of food access to nutritious healthy food. Indeed, food deserts also appear to be, areas o f worrying social isolation (Furey et al, 2001). Geographic M easures of F ood A ccessibility What types of variables do w e need to measure food accessibilit y? First ly, physical distance between a point of origin and a destination.
19 Geographic access or physical access is generally based on the physical distance and travel time to a food store (Algert et al.,2006). Many of the studies in this area have calculated the distance from a centroid ZIP code to a food store, from which healthy foods can be purchas ed (Sharkey et al., 2010; Zenk et al., 2005; and Powell et al., 2007) while other studies measur e the density of the food stores in a defined area (Block, 2004 ). For an actual distance, some studies have used grid dista nce to food stores which would reflect the street network more accurately (Larsen & Gilliland, 2008; Zenk et al., 2005) while others have used the road network in their calculations instead of measuring straight distance s, because this would enable a mor e precise prediction of actual travel time. Table 2 1 briefly shows the examples of geographical accessibility measurement in previous studies. Socioeconomic F ood I nequality in the U.S According to a report by the Economic Research Serv ic e in 2009, the existence of food deserts in United States has recently caused increasing concern because of their role in promoting health inequality though the amplification of deprivation ; as we saw earlier, minorities and low income individuals are more likely to reside in food desert s Identifying the socio demographic factors that affect the food environment of a particular region can often help us dentify the barriers that communities encounter, e.g., the inability to afford wholesome food. This broad categor y of factor s can be broken int o three sub factors: low income household s racial/ethnical disparities, and an aging population. Low I ncome H ouseholds Low income areas are defined as food deserts when the individuals residing in these communities do not have access to healthy food. A crucial dimension of the
20 designat ion food deserts is but in this section the economic onomic a cc ess such as a household income level are considered food security (McEntee & Agyeman, 2010). It has been found that consumers with an annual income of less than $8,000 paid about 1 % more for their food relative to those with higher incomes of b etween $8,000 $ 30,000 (Broda and Weinstein, 2009). However, while Macintyre (2007) has not found a consistent pattern in which food resources are located to the disadvantage of households in poorer European communities North American studies suggest tha t low income communities may not have equal access to a variety of healthy food choices compare d to wealthy communities (Morland et al, 2002a). In Canada, 35% of households classified as low income have experienced food insecurity i.e., either reduced ac cess to food or low consumption of healthy food ( Che & Chen, 2001). In New York City, those areas with the lowest median household incomes (East and Central Harlem and North and Central Brooklyn) have the lowest scores for food access I n contrast, the hi ghest scores for food access belong to the U pper E ast Side, a predominantly upper income area (Gordon et al., 2010). There is a potential spatial mismatch between low income neighborhoods and access to full service grocery stores (USDA, 2009) which reflec t s poorer community health because higher than average numbers of convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and liquor stores are concentrated in low income area s as well (Dannenberg et al., 2003, pp. 1500 1805). Thus, a low income level and poverty are relevant when assessing physical a ccess to wholesome food and overall health.
21 Racial S egregation What racial group, if any, associated with low income s, and does this have relationship ? In addition to a residential racial segregation is a socio economic characteristic of current U.S. society. In terms of food access, minority groups are present in unaffordable location s and accompanied by a low number of healthy food stores a low percentage of vegetable/ fruit intake and abundant fast food restaurants (Morland et al, 2002a; Morland et al., 2002b ) In essence, minority groups have fewer opportunities to obtain healthy foods. African Americans are considered the largest minority gr oup (nearly 13 % of the population) while H ispanics constitute 15% of the total population. A recent study conducted by Galvez et al.(2008) investigated East Harlem in New York City and found that, while African American s and Hispanics are bot h considered minority group s African American s are less likely to have supermarkets and conven ience stores in their occupied c ensus block while the is more likely to offer access to food stores and full service restaurants. This implies th ere are differences among minority groups based on dietary quality and eating habits. Research ha s shown that the existence of food deserts is relevant to African American agglomeration, while food affordability may differ according to the characteristics of a neighborhood s physical environment. Baker (2006) found that African Americans, regardless of income level, have reduced access to restaurants that provide healthy food choices study took place in St. Louis, MO.) A study conducted in New Orleans, LA reported that predominantly B lack neighborhoods ha d 2.4 fast food restaurants per square mile compared to 1.5 fast food restaurants per square mile predominantly W hite neighborhoods (Block, 2004).
22 Elderly P opulation Walking, driving, and using public transportation such as rail and bus services, provides access to food stores but easy access to wholesome foods may present a challenge to the elderly p opulation (Burns & Inglis, 2007). Old er individuals may experience jeopardized access to food i.e., greater difficulty in getting to the grocery store and also in getting around the store itself In the Public Health Management for Philadelphia (2010) the elderly reported the ir need for a meal program, which indicates that they were encountering problems with shopping for their groceries a nd preparing their meals. To address the difficulties that accompany aging, the Har t ford Food System in Connecticut runs programs linked to the local full service super market s The program pr ovide s free delivery for the aged population and offer shopping service s at a re asonable price for elderly individuals who do not own a car, so that they can have access to a variety of fresh food (Hartford Food System Report, 2009) Physical or either financial limitations are often the reasons why the aged population give s up acce s s to food, and alternatives to public transportation are not readily available to the aged p opulation in many communities. Yamashita and Kunkel (2011) cr eated a conceptual model of the link between age food access, and health outcomes (Figure 2 1). There are two factors that we must consider with regard to how people make the decision to buy food; namely, geographic and economic access. For better health outcomes among the elderly, the interaction of wise food choices for a nutritious diet, and geographic and economic access to good food is crucial. Whelan et al. (2002) demonstrate that food consumption pattern s may change as people age. When purchasing fo od, the a ged population tends to weigh convenien ce and ease of preparation more heavily than price. Over the long term, poorer food
23 choices may result in greater problems for the older population, because nutritional intake is particularly crucial to their health. Transportation and F ood A ccess Public T ransportation I nfrastructure Another obstacle to food access is the lack of public transportation infrastructure. The barriers to healthy foods do not simply relate to price or the socioeconomic status of customers, but also relate to tran sportation. Since, for the majority of Americans, healthy food is not usually available in places other than full service grocery stores, if such a store is not easily accessible, those seeking good food must travel outside of their neighborhoods. Resident s who do not own a personal vehicle and who live in a food desert are not particularly mobile, and have limited access to full service grocery stores. Over the long term, lack of access to healthy food may promote illness as a result of poor dietary intake The USDA National Food Stamp Program Survey (1996) reported that a little less than half of low income U.S. households are able to use a car that they own (Morton et al., 2005). This means that many low income families must rely on other family members, friends, neighbors, and public transportation for their food shopping trips. Opportunities to purchase healthy food may be enhanced by transit oriented development (TOD), which would involve increasing the number of transportation stops to enable easier a ccess to fresh, wholesome food (Belzer & Autler, 2002) While TOD focuses on future growth of bus and metro transportation, zoning and land use could also be modified to encourage food retailing (Belzer & Autler, 2002) There is no direct research that inv estigates the relationships between TOD and food access, but in El
24 from two bus lines. TOD could dramatically reduce the travel distances for families to stores offering goo d food, and provide greater choices and more frequent travel opportunities. Litman (2010) has argued along similar lines; in that study, TOD impacts mental health, improved access to healthy food, and greater food affordability. Vehicle O wn ership Private vehicles have become the primary form of transportation in American cities and towns. Most settlements have grown alongside rapidly increasing auto dependence, and the automobile remains integral to the culture and everyday functioning of Am as shopping districts, whole cities, and even suburbs, are designed and developed with car ownership and mobility in mind (Burns and Inglis, 2007). Major cities in the U.S. discourage the deve lopment of a public transportation infrastructure that alternates automobile reliance with other forms of transport, such as walking, biking, or public transit. Vehicle availability is a deciding factor in whether or not residents of these communities can travel for grocery shopping purposes (Morland, et al., 2002b). Owning income households are 6 to 7 times less likely than other U.S. households to own cars (Murakami and Yo ung, 1997). Nevertheless, most low income households attempt to use cars for food shopping, even though more than half cannot rely on a car that they own. While cities offer alternative public transportation opportunities, rural residents mostly do own ca rs. Those families that do not or cannot afford a dependable automobile have even greater problems with food access than their counterparts in
25 urban areas. About half of rural counties in the U.S., including the most isolated areas, have no public transit system at all (Stommes and Brown, 2002). Because of limited public transportation opportunities, rural areas are more exposed to food insecurity than even those cities that have food deserts. Nord (2002) found that in agricultural areas, 13.5% of rural inh abitants faced food insecurity, compared to the nationwide figure of 10.5%. However, Sharkey (2010) catalogs the different types of food stores to which people have access in rural areas, and the related distances: 9.9 miles to a full service supermarket, 6.7 miles to fresh fruits, and 7.4 miles to fresh vegetables in one case study in Texas. In addition, this research proves that although these neighborhoods may have low vehicle ownership, they could have better spatial access to a good variety of fresh fr uits and vegetables and may have greater shopping opportunities than those in the cities. food environment. First, vehicles permit improved access to large scale retailers, w hich often offer lower prices. This should boost food expenditure and the quality of a constant basket of food. Residents can also purchase larger quantities of food per shopping trip, reducing the time costs associated with acquiring food and increasing t heir opportunities for both labor and leisure. Since food deserts are related to food safety and poor dietary intake, vehicle ownership can promote reduced expansion of food deserts. Types of F ood S tores cations in which resident households were unable to have or unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs of all their members, because they have insufficient sources of food. People who live in
26 food deserts often have no options, so they rely on smaller stores where the quality and variety of fresh foods are more limited (Wrigley, 2002). Many previous studies have measured the nearest distance to grocery stores selling either healthy, unhealthy, or both types of foods. The definition of a food store is b road, and Sharkey (2010) separates the types of food stores as shown below, in Figure 2 2. Full service nutritious, wholesome foods in addition to processed fare. Compared to other food stores, these supermarkets tend to offer a variety of high quality products at reasonable prices (Chung and Myers, 1999). The California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA, 2007) includes supermarkets, supercenters, and produce vendors as healthy food stores based on the assumption that these locations have a wide v ariety of higher quality healthy foods. In contrast, convenience stores are generally considered unhealthy food stores, since they offer mostly prepared, high calorie food and little fresh food (Zenk, 2006). The ERS (2009) includes fast food restaurants an d convenience stores in its category of unhealthy food stores, since these establishments sell more high calorie foods and less fresh produce, and the fresh produce they do sell tends to be offered at higher prices than in full service supermarkets. Assess ing the food resources in a community is significant in determining whether that area is a food desert or not. Morland (2006) shows that the abundant presence of supermarkets is related to a lower obesity rate, while the presence of convenience stores is a ssociated with a higher rate of obesity. Food P urchasing B ehavior and its A ssociations with H ealth categorized into several socioeconomic groups. Indeed, food consumers have
27 purchasing habits that are unique to their individual groups. Yoo et al. (2006) found that major food purcha sing patterns were a weekly big trip with a few small trips (34.9%), bi weekly big trips with a few small trips (21.9%), no big shopping trips (15.4%), a weekly big trip without small trips (13.9%), a monthly big trip (8.3%), and biweekly big trips without small trips (6.4%), while 67% of the U.S. population went to restaurants for fruits and vegetables. By socioeconomic status, African American families shopped for food the least frequently, while Asian American families shopped for food the most frequentl y. Educational level was negatively associated with the use of convenience stores, and was positively associated with obtaining take away food from restaurants (Yoo et al., 2006). From the perspective of the built environment, the distance to the supermark Most healthy foods are produced in suburban areas, and are sold in full service supermarkets, so when an individual does not have access to healthy food choices, the only option available i s the consumption of unhealthy foods that are high in fat and calories. Several studies have shown that individuals living in food deserts have a significantly lower consumption of fruits and vegetables than other residents of the same community, which sug gests that food deserts result in compromised diets (Smith and Morton, 2009). Residents of these neighborhoods are faced with the burden of traveling outside of their neighborhoods to purchase healthy foods, or staying in their neighborhood and consuming unhealthy foods. Often, people tend to shop at convenience stores, where food is typically more expensive and less healthy, which is a problem from a planning perspective, as well a public health concern (Larsen, 2009, p. 1159).
28 The USDA Food Desert Study (2009) observes that several studies link unhealthy behaviors to increased BMI and increased obesity rates. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in obesity rates among adults (CDC, 2007). No precise pattern has been observed for obesity an d socioeconomic status, but many Americans who are classified as obese are racial minorities and low income individuals. The CDC (2004) has also found evidence linking this epidemic to the increased consumption of food away from home; to the increased cons umption of salty snacks, soft drinks, and pizza; and to increased portion sizes. The lack of nutritious food intake contributes to obesity, but the disease can be more readily linked to unequal access to healthy food sources. Morland (2006) found that the highest rates of adult obesity (32% 40%) were observed in census tracts with no supermarkets, with access only to grocery stores or grocery and convenience stores (32% 40%). Research on adolescents indicates that greater access to convenience stores may c ontribute to more unhealthy food choices, and to a greater risk of obesity (Powell, 2007). Other factors that contribute to obesity, combined with physical disparities in access to food sources, are race, income level, and cultural characteristics that are associated with preferred food purchasing habits and patterns. A study conducted in Los Angeles found that lower income ZIP codes with a predominantly Black population had fewer healthy food options than higher income ZIP codes with a smaller Black pop ulation (Lewis et al., 2005). Additionally, The Office of Minority Health (2009) reported that Black Americans were 1.4 times more likely, and Hispanics were 1.1 times more likely, to be obese compared to non Hispanic whites. These studies indicate that be tter supermarket access is related to a reduced risk of developing obesity.
29 Summary Many factors contribute to our ability to identify and define food deserts. One of those factors is the socioeconomic disparities of those communities situated within a bro ader food environment. Research has suggested that low income individuals (Chung& Meyers, 1999; Zenk et al., 2006; Morland et al., 2002a), minority groups (Morland et al., 2002a; Zenk et al., 2005), and the aged population (Whelan et al., 2002; Yamashita a nd Kunkel, 2011) have limited access to supermarkets, chain stores, and healthful foods. A limited built environment, especially related to the public obtaining healthy food s, while a vehicle oriented culture (characterized by a high private vehicle ownership rate) reduces food access opportunities for groups experiencing socioeconomic disparity. Most previous studies in this area have divided food sources into two groups: he althy food stores and unhealthy food stores, and have scrutinized food purchase habits related to socioeconomic status, and their influence on health issues. The proposed socioeconomic, built environment and food environment variables will help researchers and practical planners to understand the various definitions of food deserts from their own perspective. By performing a review of the literature, however, this study aims to address two limitations of previous studies. First, most studies have applied bo th healthy and unhealthy food stores such as convenience stores, suggesting a partial understanding of the built environment. Secondly, recent studies have and have not uti lized a transportation network base. The research presented in this thesis aims to bridge two gaps in the previous food desert research in the category of healthy food outlets,
30 proximity to its closest food outlets usin g two transportation methods: walking and driving in the sample area of Sarasota County, FL. The next chapter provides a detailed description of the methodology that will be used in these case studies
31 Table 2 1. Examples of geographical accessibly measurement in previous studies Author Target food stores Origin Transportation method Study area Unit Definition of access Algert et al. (2006) Stores with variety of fresh produce Stores with limited variety of fresh produce Location of food pantry client residences Walking Pomona, CA Road network distance 0.5 mile (0.8 Km) Block et al. (2004) Fast food restaurant Census Track New Orleans, LA Shopping area buffer 1/0.5 mile buffer (shopping area) Burns and Inglis (2007) Major supermarket Major fast food outlets Census block group boundary Bus Walking City of Casey, Australia Travel cost time based on road network Assessed in Minute Larsen & Gilliland, (2008) Local business supermarkets Canadian Census tract Bus Walking City of London, Canada Manhattan block distance Powell et al. (2007) Food outlet (supermarket, grocery, convenience store) Food store (chain, non chain) 28,052 ZIP Codes 2000 Census Access by ethnicity, race, socioeconomi c status and income Sharkey et al. (2010) Food stores with fruits and vegetables 2000 Census Block group 6 county rural regions in Texas Distance to the nearest food store from the population weighted center of each CBG Cove rage (number of shopping opportunities) Zenk et al. (2005) The nearest supermarket (national/regional chain) 2000 Census tract centroid Not specified Detroit, MI Manhattan block distance
32 Figure 2 1. A conceptual model of the link between age, food access, and health outcomes Source: Yamashita and Kunkel (2011) Supercenters or superstores Very large stores that primarily engage in retailing a general line of groceries in combination with general lines of new merchandise, such as apparel, furniture, and appliances (e.g., Super Wal Mart, Super Kmart). Supermarkets Primarily engage in retailing a genera l line of food, supermarkets are larger in size (>20,000 sq ft), number of employees, and sales volume. 4 Chain store identification and number of parking spaces (>100) were used to distinguish supermarkets from grocery stores. 5 Grocery stores Primarily en gage in retailing a general line of food, grocery stores are smaller in size, not identified as a chain store and have fewer than 100 parking spaces. Convenience stores or food marts Primarily engage in retailing a limited line of goods that generally includes milk, bread, soda, and snacks. The convenience store category also included convenience stores with gasoline and gasoline stations with convenience stores. Dollar stores Limited General or Family Dollar. Pharmacies and drugstores Pharmacies and drug stores that were part of national chains (e.g., CVS, Walgreens). Figure 2 2 Types and definition of food stores Source: Sharkey et al. (2010) 4 Moore LV, Diez Roux AV: Association of Neighborhood Characteristics With the Location and Type of Food Stores. Am J Public Health 2006, 96:325 31. 5 Hale T: Dollar Store, No Frills: The New Retail Landscape. Consumer Insight 2004, Spring 2004:11 3, 42.
33 C HA PT ER 3 METHODOLOGY FOR MAPPING AND ANALYZIN G POTENTIAL FOOD DES ERTS The goal of this chapter is to identify variables that can use to measure food access and can be adopted to define a food desert for the case study area. The methodologies are both quantitative and qualitative, and are intended to present a s patial overview of the area where lack of food resources. This chapter is divided into three sections. The first two sections offer an overview of Sarasota County, explain why an attempt to assess this food environment is needed, and then demonstrate what types of methodology other studies have applied to measure food access/food deserts in Sarasota County. The last section presents a food access index that has been created quantitatively, and which is an indicator of where to find food desert candidates Establishing C ase S tudy A rea Sarasota County has a remarkable natural agricultural heritage, and its residents anticipate sustainable agricultural growth. Sustainable agriculture emphasizes nutritious and affordable food, while contributing to economic growth and healthy diets. Howeve r, somewhat in opposition to the promotion of healthy food choices, the number of grocery stores in which customers can buy fresh food appears to be on the decline in Sarasota County, which now has a low density of grocery stores (1.81/10,000 population) i n comparison to state of Florida as a whole (2.04/10,000 population). These numbers are expected to decrease even further in the coming years, as 83 number of grocery stores closed their business from October 2010 to August 2011 while t he total population increases from 325,957 to 388,262 ( Sarasota County Economic Report 2011 ) Therefore, determining accessibility to healthy food stores is reinforced as an indicator of the general affordability of food, which may in turn, influence
34 health status. It is important to understand the built and physical environment as they relate to this food access crisis. F ood A ccess/ D esert S tudy of Sarasota County Previous studies in this area have each proposed their own definition of food deserts and low access to food outlets, and have deemed Sarasota County one of the highest ranked Government studies and the literature on public health have promoted supermarkets as access quality food. National research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) recognize that poor access to food outlets is strongly correlated with socioeconomic problems, while the County Health Ranking 2011 and USDA Food D esert Locator: F ood D esert in Sarasota County The objective of the food desert locator is to obtain a spatial dispersion overview of low income neighborhoods with high concentrations of people who live far away from grocery stores. The first attempt to locate food deserts was initiated by the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), to assess the availability of nutritious food support ( USDA, 2009 ) From the geographic perspective, 1km square grids were adopted as the base spatial unit of anal ysis, and grids outside of a specified distance from a food source income individuals that met the aforementioned criteria received particular attention as food deserts. To i mprove its methodological approach, HFFI created a partnership with
35 the USDA, and two socioeconomic indicators were applied to explain food deserts low income census tract, and residents with reduced access to supermarkets or large grocery stores, as b elow: Low income community A census tract must have either: 1) a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, or 2) a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area's median family income Low access community In urban area, at least 33 percent (o r 500 people) of residents population (in census track) inhabit more than a mile from supermarket or large grocery store TRF Policy Map: Food A ccess in Sarasota County As an initial step towards a thorough assessment of the food environment, TRF defined a Low Access Area (LAA ) using a geographical and socio economic approach to identify those areas where residents faced a longer distance to the grocery store than the average distance of a high income area. Additional socioeconomic variables (e.g., concentration of neighb orhood income, education level, and ridership of transit to work) were prepared to observe whether there could be a relationship between LAA and the aforementioned socioeconomic variables. Household population, residential land area population, and vehicle ownership data were derived from the U.S. Census (2000), and supermarket locations were obtained from Trade Dimensions (2009). This research settled a hypothesis that block groups with a higher income level (median household income greater than 120% of th eir respective urban area) enjoyed reasonable distance to food sources. County Health Ranking 2011: Access to H ealthy F ood in Sarasota County The f inal rankings are a combination of each health outcome and health factor ranking which are weighted under certain weights ( Appendix A). The a ccessibility of healthy foods, which is 2.5% weighted under the physical environment element, is
36 measured because residents consider the distance to grocery stores over whic h grocery stores carry healthy foods The lack of local access to healthy foods makes it difficult for families in low income urban communities to maintain a well balanced, nutritious diet U .S. ZIP code s and health y food outlet s 6 are used to calculate th e percentage of residential ZIP codes in a county without access to healthy food outlets Place to B uy a G allon of M ilk A nalysis, Sarasota County population that had access to a gallon of milk within a quarter mile drive. The analysis was performed using the census block to estimate the 2010 population, and quarter mile drive distances to grocery stories were calculated based on the street networks, stories were consistent with the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), and 228 stores were defined as food sources based on the criteria below : NAICS 4451 Grocery Stores (Includes Grocery Stores and Convenience Stores) NAICS 44611 Pharmacies and Drug Stores: Select WALGREENS and CVS PHARMACY NAICS 446191 Food (Health) Supplement Stores: Select RICHARD'S WHOLE FOODS, GRANARY, and GRANARY NATURAL FOODS NAICS 452 General Merchandise Stores: Select DOLLAR GENERAL, DOLLAR TREE, FAMILY DOLLAR STORE, KMART, SUPER TARGET, TARGET, WALMART, and WALMART SUPERCENTER Summary of P revious S tud ies When evaluating food desert s in Sarasota County methodologies in each earlier studies have limitations of factors they used; USDA, TRF policy map, and County 6 Healthy food outlets are identified by their North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code.
37 Health Ranking 2011 methodologies h ave linked low income households with res idential density ; whereas Sarasota County s analysis only provides physical distan ce where has an access to food. The f irst three studies shows that food deserts are inherited from areas with low income level households but did not prove any relations with physical distance, while the last study regards none of socioeconomic facto rs. Th is thesis aims to address the gap in previous food desert research es using both socioeconomic and physical distance factors. It would start by narrowing down the definition of food resources to healthy food outlets and evaluating physical distance s with socioeconomic disparities that mentioned in literature review. The types of transportation mode s residents use to get food in Sarasota County is an important factor as well The f ollowing section prov ides a detailed description of methodology to create food access index. Creating F ood A ccess I ndex: Indicators for A nalysis The primary goal of th is section is to create an ind ex that can measure food access. This sections is separated into three parts: 1) define healthy food outlets for the purposes of this research; 2) create a food access index using proximity and coverage to healthy food outlets; and 3) apply the food access index to the transportation network then running t test which would support whether there is a relationship between food access and vehicle ownership in each walking and driving networ k Using data from the 2000 U.S. Census Summary File 3, this study categorized census block groups in terms of vehicle ownership composition. The proportion of the population with no vehicle Ad ditionally, when food access index based on census block data has been developed, it is possible to predict food access index using the distance from residential zones to healthy food outlets from
38 parcel 2009 data to better understand the relationship between land use and access to healthy foods. These analyses will help to assess potential food desert candidates which are deprived of access to healthy food outlets in Sarasota County and determine which areas of Sarasota County have high, medium, and low access to food outlets Indicator 1: Healthy F ood O utlet convenience stores, food marts, gas station food stores, and drug stores contribute to the local food environment ( Morland et al. 2002 a ) They are excluded from this study, because convenience stores are often viewed as providing an abundance of unhealthy since those food sources are operated on a seasonal basis and during limited hours (Schafft, 2009). In Sarasota County, 94 healthy food outlets met the criteria and were retrieved from the 2007 North America Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. Table 3 1 denotes the NA ICS codes used to define a food desert in this study. Indicator 2 1 : Proximity and C overage to H ealthy F ood O utlet After defin ed healthy food outlets t wo criteria are assessed to measure distance food access: 1) Proximity (distance) to healthy food outlets from Census block centroid points constituting the balance point of the polygon (Census Block, 2010) ; and 2) Coverage (number) of healthy food outlets within a census block boundary and store size (square footage). The size of healthy food outlets are assessed when determining food accessibility, because it can be
39 assumed that larger grocery stores provide various food choices The c a lculation is based on a Manhattan block distance to the nearest healthy food outlet in each census block boundar ies as follows : + Size / n Where is the distance between origin i and destination j, x and y are the latitude and longitude coordinate points and n is the number of healthy food outlets in each of the 204 census blocks in Sarasota County. The Manhattan distance measure assumes that residents travel to the food outlet via an angular route rather than in a straight line (Gim pel and Schuknecht, 2003). Indicator 2 2: Re assessing F ood A ccess I ndex with P roximity to H ealthy F ood O utlets The food access index depends on the number, size, and distance from centroid census block point to healthy food outlet and it reveal s proximity to, and variety of, food choices, but includes some of the limitations. For example, assume there are two food outlets, A and B A is five miles away from the census block centroid point, which is included in the same block boundary, and B is two miles away, but it is included in the block next to the centroid point block that includes A In this case, the food access index applied earlier would ignore B, while it is closer than A. To address this limitation, an additional food access index has been created that calculates the distance to the closet food outlet using spatial join tool in ArcMap 10 software ( ESRI, Inc., Redlands, CA) To determine those areas that suffer inequality of access to healthy food outl ets, each low access block in is selected in two types of index ; one with proximity and coverage (indicator 2 1) ; and the other only with proximity to the closest distance to
40 healthy food outlets ( indicator 2 2) then overlaid into one demographic map to show more accurate food desert s Indicator 3 : Network according to T ransportation (walking and driving) M odes American cities are designed in an auto dependent manner, and the automobile remains integral to the culture and everyday functioning of U.S. society (Clifton, 2004; t and the grocery store, while those who have the physical capacity to walk to nearby stores may have independent food access as well. The importance of transportation fo r food access among people with limited mobility is highlighted by the findings (Burns and Inglis, 2007). This section aims to provide answers relating to the current aspects of life, under the objective : Find food outlets within a half mile walking distance and 10 miles driving distance using street path to identify how food access is distributed. The accessibility of healthy food outlets has been defined from two transportation modes : that of the pedestrian, focused on walking alone, and, according to the ERS report of 2009, the average equal a half mile walking distance (o r 15 minute walk, approximately). For driving speed, 40 miles/hr has been calculated as the average speed from origin to destination; hr drive). Table 3 2 illustrates each transportation street network source used to assess these mobility measures. Geographic o r physical network is generally based on physical distance and travel method to food stores (Algert et al., 2006). In order to determine whether a personal
41 vehicle or walking are related to the areas with low access to food outlets, the food access index and the percentage of vehicle ownership must be examined then need to investigate the relationships between food ac cess index and vehicle ownership under each transportation modes. The population number of n 2000 U.S. census Summary File 3 is calculated from total population and this percentage has b een grouped into two categories; census bloc ks with high and low percentage of vehicle ownership under equal distribution. To determine whe ther there is a relationship between vehicle ownership and food access index, T test will be applied for both walking and driving network to healthy foods Distance from R esidential Z one to H ealthy F ood O utlets Another spatial overview can be represented by the distance between r esidential zones and healthy food outlets because residential zones indicate areas where actual housing with actual residents, who are ultimately customers of healthy food outlets predominates. Using 2009 parcel data, categories under char acteristics of residential lands was selected a nd T able 3 3 shows the number of parcels for each housing type. This is used to repli cates the methods employed by indicator 2 2 which also sought to determine the shortest distance between healthy food outlets and residential lands Application of Methodology : Using GIS to M easure F ood A ccess 2002), which can be used to view, quantify, and analyze information within a geographic context, such as spatial patterns and additional statistical information (Vine, Degnan, and Hanchette, 1997). This research used ArcMap 10 software (ESRI, Inc., Redla nds, CA) to calculate the Manhattan block distance from neighborhood centroid points (Census Block, 2000)
42 to healthy food outlets (NAICS 2007). This study conducted a block by block assessment of proximity to healthy food outlets for the entire county of S arasota. In this sense, the GIS was also utilized to analyze the relationships between transportation network variables and the food access index in the following chapter. To determine the transportation network around healthy food outlets, the net work analysis extension tool in ArcMap 10 has been employed to create half mile and ten mile network service areas around healthy food outlets. Each network is derived from sidewalk and major road maps in Sarasota County respectively. Thi s helps to determine the proximity, or minimum distance, either for walking or driving, to the nearest healthy food outlet(s). Figure 3 1 illustrates how these pedestrian (walking) and driver networks are created around the local healthy food outlets.
43 Table 3 1 2007 NAICS codes selected for healthy food outlets and its example of food services NAICS Code Index NAICS Code Definition Examples SIC Code Index NAICS 445110 Supermarkets and other groceries (except convenience store) Whole Foods Market, Publix, Winn Dixie, etc SIC 5441105 NAICS 445210 Meat markets Herman meats, SIC 5144 NAICS 445220 Fish and seafood markets National fish& seafood Inc., etc SIC 5146 NAICS 445230 Fruit and Vegetable Markets Osprey produce, Pioneer farmers market, etc SIC 5148 Sources: Provided from Sarasota County GIS Department Table 3 2 Data inventory used to mea sure food outlet street network Customer type Method Service area Network sources Pedestrian Walking 0.5 mile(15min walk) Sidewalk Driver Personal vehicle 10 mile (15 drive) Major roads Table 3 3. Types and number of parcel data defined in residential land uses Residential lands from parcel data Number of parcel Condominium 1871 Hoes for aged 47 Mobile homes 11643 Multi family 203 Multi family less than 10 units 4122 Retirement homes 11 Single family 128546
44 Figure 3 1. Walking and driving distances from healthy food outlets (transportation network)
45 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND RESULTS In order to evaluate any area that has no affordable access to food, the population, the proximity to healthy food outlets, and the walkable/drivable distance network must be examined. Based on the analysis conducted in Microsoft Excel using the GIS, takin g a statistical approach, this chapter illustrate s three levels of demographical distribution of food access (high, medium, and low) and evaluate the relationship between vehicle ownership (which is a neighborhood inequality) and access to healthy foods. R esult from P revious S tudies USDA Food Desert Locator: F ood D esert in Sarasota County Seven census tracks in Sarasota County qualified the food desert criteria where low income tract has less than 33 percentage of accessibility to grocery stores out of 4 1). Food deserts are dispersed over the County and out of seven tracts five are located along the coast The total number of people living in the identified tract groups is 28,920 and the total number of population ou t side of the one mile boundary is 17,598. H igh percentage of populations is above median income level; however there are 5,738 of residents that are low income who have little food access (20.0%). Two trac t groups located North of City of Sarasota (#1,2) and one in City of North Port (#6) have low income with low access levels over average percentage. Two of the food desert tract groups have a somewhat high percentage of households with n o vehicles (over 5%) ; each trac t s located n orth of the City of Sarasota (#2) and City of Inglewood (#3) have a percentage around 10% of no vehicle that lack of opportunity to grocery stores. Table 4 1 reveals the numeric analysis of these findings of Sarasota County.
46 TRF Policy Map: Food A ccess in Sarasota County There are three food access indicators in this study; LAA overlays with density of income; and density of workers who commute to work via public transit. LAAs (blue outline d polygon) are observed in North City of Sarasota, on North Siesta Key Island and near the c ity of Inglewood (Figure 4 2.A). Figure 4 2.B illustrates that the location of LAAs varies for high (purple), medium (blue), and low (orange) income groups. The d arkest orange polygon in north Sarasota City shows that the residents are mostly low income, and inhabit areas commonly associated with poverty while the residents of LAAs adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico are medium and high income individuals Lastly the result shown in Figure 4 2.C illustrate that residents in LAA block groups barely use public transit when they commute to work (0.04 t o 1.45% over the track population). Compared to the USDA Food Desert Locator, the TRF research concludes that there are fewer areas that have low accessibility to grocery stores. While no significant correlation was found demographically among LAAs, incom e level, and public transit usage, it appears nonetheless that there could be a relationship between low food access areas and socioeconomic indicators County Health Ranking 2011: Access to H ealthy F ood in Sarasota County The County Health Ranking 2011 placed Sarasota County among the high est ranked healthy communities across 67 counties in Florida with a; health outcome rank placed in second ranking ; and a health factor in forth ranking. Among Sarasota County residents, 83% have access to healthy food outlet s (Table 4 3 ) whereas the s tate as a whole has 82% access to healthy foods. Although this study prove s that Sarasota County is one of health iest c ount ies in Florida, it is uncertain to tell that the county really has high healthy food proximity since
47 this study used ZIP code s alone to define neighborhood characteristics, and do es not speci fy the scope under track or either block group level. Because of these limitations, it is difficult to compare where low access to food is concentrated in the county, or which areas in the co unty possess the healthiest status from a broader perspective. Place to B uy a G allon of M ilk A nalysis, Sarasota County The ESRI Business Analyst tool estimated that there were +/ 390,472 people in 2010 in Sarasota County, while the number of residen ts in this quarter mile grocery boundary was estimated as +/ 9,999 (+/ 2.6% of total population). With the quarter mile grocery stores identified, the spatial distribution of food access was represented, and three substantial cities (Sarasota, Venice, and North Port) were identified as those with the lowest potential to be food deserts in Sarasota County (Figure 4 3). because of the broad food source definition (including food supplement stores, gas stations, and convenience stores with limited availability of fresh foods), the investigation cannot draw conclusions about fundamental food accessibility, i.e., the re includes in its analysis farm stands, due to the fact that such food sources sell seasonal, fresh foods. Food A ccess I nde x The food access index has been created using the 94 healthy food outlets identified, and 204 census block groups in Sarasota County Results show that there single healthy food outlet within a certain block boundary, that block is defined as others have been divided
48 into equally percentage of each categories pertaining to high, medium, or low access to food outlets Results show that there are 40 blocks with high food access; 20 blocks with medium access ; and 21 blocks with low physical access to food outlets. Figure 4 4 below represents the map of the food access index overlaid with the locations of healthy food outlets. Of the total population, 9.9% are dwelling in areas that have high access to food o utlets (green polygon), while the population with medium (orange polygon) and low (red polygon) access to food outlets make up 11.6% and 13.2% of the total population respectively. As shown in the figure, the population with low access to food outlets occu pies a patterned cluster in North City of Sarasota, including New Town, South City of Venice, and City of North Port. While the majority of the areas in the city of North Port were identified as having low food access, the other two cities, particularly th e city of Sarasota, had all three types of access. The area between Fruitville Rd. and Bahia Vista St. corridors between N. Tuttle Ave. has low access to food outlets compared to the rest of the city, even though food outlets tend to cluster in this area. This may relate to the size of the food outlets, since this is weighted in the calculations of the index. Figure 4 5 shows the map of the re ass essed food access index based on the distance to the nearest food outlets. As legend illustrates, every block is categorized in zones because blocks are measured using the c losest distance to food outlets. Relationship between F ood A ccess I ndex and V ehicle O wnership in each T ransportation N etwork B oundary After calculating the food access index for Sarasota County, the findings revealed the geographic distribution of access to healthy foods. Figures 4 6 and 4 7 show the
49 food access index cropped within two types of transportation network (half mile and 10 miles). Compared to the food access index of the walking distance network, the driving cess to food to a lesser extent than walking does. Based on the figure, pedestrians who reside in the center and the eastern part of the city of Sarasota, west of the city of Venice, and in the center of the city of North Port, have poor access to healthy foods. For residents who drive to obtain healthy food parcels along I 75, the city of North Port provides fewer chances to get healthy foods. However, since the majority of the areas nce the accessibility of healthy foods. Demographic findings improvise healthy food accessibility in each network, but those do not prove whether vehicle access, or a lack thereof, is Statistical A pproach to fin d R elationship between V ehicle O wnership and F ood A ccess I ndex : 8,975 (2.8%) of total population in Sarasota County does not own vehicle whereas 69,282 ( 21.3% ) and 56,989 (17.5%) own single and two vehicles respectively Table 4 4 shows the results of the t test to determine whether a high percentage of vehicle ownership would be relevant to food access. Two groups of vehicle ownership were divided by average of no vehicle ownership (3.38%) that interpreted areas with high (NOVEHPE R (Less than 3.38%)) and where has less (NOVEHPER (More than 3.38%)) vehicle ownership. Since the mean for the less vehicle ownership group is higher than the other, the null hypothesis means that census area blocks with less vehicle ownership have low foo d access in the walking network. The results of the t test suggest that there is no significant difference between the two
50 groups, because the significance level (0.09) is more than 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval for the difference. Therefore, this pr oves that there is no relationship between vehicle ownership and food access in the walking network. Similar to Table 4 4 Table 4 5 shows the results of the t test to assess the relationship between food access and vehicle ownership in the driving network. Null hypothesis suggests that census block areas with lower vehicle ownership have low food access in the driving network. The res ults suggest that there is a significant difference between the two groups, because the significance level (0.03) is more than 0.05 (95% confidence interval of the difference). Therefore, this proves that the population with no vehicle ownership has lower food access in the driving network. Food D esert s in Sarasota County Figure 4 8 provides a geographical illustration of the finding where has low food access from each index A total of 145 ,322.363 a cres have been identified as food desert areas and the total number of people living in identified block groups is 111,184 which is about 34.1% of the total population. These areas are obviously clustered e ast and s outh of the c ounty including the city of North Port and Venice. While there is a clear concentration of healthy food outlets around the city of S araso ta, fewer food desert s are designated because of the distance to, and coverage of these f ood stores. While this chapter clarified where food deserts exists in Sarasota County, a majority of land in the east of the county include environmental protected lands (EPL) which do not A cross the state of Florida, a bout 27% of the land is protected environmental lands and Sarasota County has one of the most successful natural land protection programs. As s hown in Figure 4 9 EPLs and public lands are located east of the county and west of the city of North Port, and it is forbidden to
51 develop these lands or reside on them. Figure 4 10 is a final food desert candidate map, excluding EPLs and public lands that have proximity to healthy food outlets. Food D esert s for P edestrian and D rivers A visual examination of the map data, and a statistical analysis, revealed d isadvantaged areas where the This study bases the classification of food desert candidates on bloc k groups that are placed in the transportation network category. Depending on the type of transportation that users employ to reach their destination, the definition of food desert changes. In recent years, as that do not permit easy access, within walking distance, to healthy foods in cities, or easy access, within reasonable mi le distance) and driving (10 mile distance) criteria within the low food access index (Ploeg et al., 2009) Two types of food deserts are derived from the general food desert map (Figure 4 8 ), and each half mile/10 mile transportation network was excluded respectively, because each polygon illustrates a fairly accurate measurement using a street grid, to take into account how people actually travel by walking and driving. Additionally, protected environmental lands are excluded as well, because the area do es not include a grid street connection to food outlets. As shown in Figure 4 11 the cities of Venice, North Port, and Inglewood, and north central south of the county fall within a range of food deserts when residents walk to do their grocery shopping. Figure 4 12 shows the distribution of food desert candidates for drivers. Similar to the walking network food desert candidate map, the overall distribution is concentrated in the north central south areas rather than other areas of the county. However, t here are fewer food deserts in the city of North Port and
52 Venice, suggesting greater access to food outlets in the drivable network. It visually proves the statistical results that there are relationships between vehicle ownership and the food access index dependent lifestyle, because there are more opportunities to access food outlets when customers drive to those food outlets. Food D eserts with P arcel D ata There are 216 910 parcels in the county an d 110,277 of them parcels are within a food desert boundary ( Figure 4 10 ) The shortest distance from residential zones and healthy food outlets measure s 1.3m (0.0008mile) and the longest is 19683.41 m ( 12 miles ) Compare d to the distance from census block centroi d point to healthy food outlets ( 2,713.6m to 14178 4.2m which is same as 1.69 to 88 miles ) it becomes clrear that using residential zone to healthy food outlets can more accurately represent distance than using this centroid point of census block polygon approach though the number of samples ( parcel vs. census block) are different (Figure 4 13 ) Figure 4 14 shows the values of the aggregated level of food access index in each cit y in S arasota County. The c omparison in Figure 4 5 shows that by determining food access wi th residential parcel assess ments the city of Sarasota has affordable access to wholesome foods. In the c ity of Venice it turns out t hat east of the city has medium and low access to wholesome food s wh ile west of the city has high access as shown earlier. The c ity of North Port shows major differences in that residents in the east have high access to wholesome food s whereas low access has been assessed in an earlier map. Table 4 6 shows the list of land uses in food desert s by numeric order of acres. It is evident that the majority of land is either vacant or used as grazing lands but about 13.7% is counted as single family land use.
53 Food D esert s A ssessment with S ocioeconomic D isparities Sixty five Census blocks are identified as food deserts out of 204 blocks according to the criteria described in finding chapter. The overall distribution of healthy food outlets is fairly random, but the City of North Port showed fewer healthy food outlets than oth er municipalities. Each household population that is below poverty level, has no vehicle ownership, and aged 65 and over is considered as socioeconomic disparities in Sarasota County based on the lit erature reviews. Following maps (Figure 4 1 5 t h r o u g h 4 1 7 ) shows the spatial pattern of food deserts in each transportation modes and overview of socioeconomic disparities distributions. Figure 4 1 5 shows the distribution of below poverty population and overlay maps of food deserts. Over the 3 25,957 residents, approximately 7.7% (24,817) fall below poverty line in Sarasota County. Among th is population 6 156 or about 24% from total below poverty population, are living in food deserts and isolated from food affordability. A High concentration (6.24 9.6%) of below poverty level population was moderately resides in two city centers (Sarasota and Venice) and adjace nt areas, whereas fewer below poverty population were observed in areas around Town of Longboat key and City of North Port. In City of Sarasota, for customers who drive to healthy food outlets, there was fewer concentration of below poverty population cont rast to pedestrians. In City of Venice and North Port, 3.2 to 6.5% of the population poverty level lives in areas with food deserts. Compare to the City of Sarasota, these two cities represent t hat there is n ot much relationship between poverty level and food desert observation. Figure 4 1 6 shows the distribution of no vehicle ownership and food deserts for each pedestrian (brown polygon) and drivers (purple polygon) As noted earlier chapter, there is a relationship that Census blocks with less vehicle ownership have l ower
54 access to healthy foods when customers drive to go grocery shopping. Notably, a high density of no vehicle ownership was observed in food desert both for pedestrian and drivers in Ci ty of Sarasota and Venice. However, similar to the below poverty level, City areas. Last as shown in F igure 4 1 7 a high density of older population is concentrated in individuals over the age of 65, about 37.3% (38,177) are living in identified food deserts and visually they are concentrated in Town of Longb oat and coast of City of Venice. In City of Sarasota, three high densit y centroid tract (about 61 to 90%) of aged population blocks are included in food deserts, whereas aged population are dispersed over the City. In the City of Venice it wa s easily identified that older populations are highly agglomerated in food deserts and its adjacent areas. However, compare d to other cities, there is less concentration of aged population in food deserts in the City of North Port.
55 Table 4 1 USDA Food Desert Locator result of Sarasota County TRACT_FIPS TOTALPOP PERCENT_ LOWA_Pop LOWA_POP PERCENT_ LOWI LOWI PERCENT_ HUNV HUNV PERCENT_KIDS KIDS PERCENT_ SENIORS SENIORS 1 12115001000 3033 69 2094 22.8 691 4.2 54 10.6 320 11.2 338 2 12115000300 3926 49.2 1932 27.7 1089 9.7 141 14.7 577 7 275 3 12115002402 3399 22.2 753 6.3 215 9.5 178 1.4 46 13.4 457 4 12115002509 4728 66.2 3129 17.9 845 1.9 38 12.7 601 20.5 968 5 12115002603 1965 100 1965 19.2 378 3.9 37 15.9 313 33.4 656 6 12115002701 6855 57.2 3920 24.2 1657 3.1 89 14.1 966 13.5 923 7 12115002703 5014 75.9 3805 17.2 863 2.9 80 0.3 14 59.9 3003 Source: ERS Food desert report (2009) Tab le 4 2. Explanation of Table 4 1 Variable Short Name Variable Long Name TRACT_FIPS Federal Information Processing (FIPS) Tract Identifier URBAN Census Urbanized Area Tract TOTALPOP Number of people PERCENT_LOWA_Pop Percentage of people with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store (Lives more than 1 mile from supermarket urbanized track) LOWA_POP Number of people with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store PERCENT_LOWI Percentage of total population that is low income and has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store LOWI Number of low income people with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store PERCENT_HUNV Percentage of housing units without a vehicle with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store HUNV Number of housing units without a vehicle with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store PERCENT_KIDS Percentage of children age 0 17 with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store KIDS Number of children age 0 17 with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store PERCENT_SENIORS Percentage of people age 65+ with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store SENIORS Number of people age 65+ with low access to a supermarket or large grocery store Source: ERS Food desert report (2009)
56 Table 4 3 Summary of Sarasota County access to healthy foods from County Health Rankings County Zip codes with healthy food Number of Zip codes Healthy foods percentage Z score* Sarasota 19 23 83% 0.33 *Z score= (Measure Average of FL counties)/ (Standard Deviation) Source: County Health Rankings, Sarasota County Table 4 4 Result of t test between two variables: vehicle ownership and food access index in miles walking network t Test: Two Sample Assuming Equal Variances NOVEHPER (Less than 3.38%) NOVEHPER (more than 3.38%) Mean 62804844.19 89682935.43 Variance 7.91791E+15 8.81999E+15 Observations 100 48 Pooled Variance 8.20831E+15 Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 Df 146 t Stat 1.689512411 P(T<=t) one tail 0.046627796 t Critical one tail 1.655357345 P(T<=t) two tail 0.093255591 t Critical two tail 1.976345623 Table 4 5 Result of t test between two variables: vehicle ownership and food access index in 10 miles driving network t Test: Two Sample Assuming Equal Variances NOVEHPER (Less than 3.38%) NOVEHPER (more than 3.38%) Mean 43919471.46 70570178.7 Variance 6.35551E+15 8.28027E+15 Observations 143 61 Pooled Variance 6.92722E+15 Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 Df 202 t Stat 2.09385746 P(T<=t) one tail 0.018760175 t Critical one tail 1.652431964 P(T<=t) two tail 0.037520349 t Critical two tail 1.971777338
57 Table 4 6 Land uses from parcel data included in food desert DESCRIPT Count Acres GRAZING LAND SOIL CLASS 3 354 51739.449 FOREST, PARK, AND RECREATIONAL AREAS 187 23541.342 SINGLE FAMILY 55119 19804.464 VACA N T RESIDENTIAL 45766 15596.051 SEWAGE DISPOSAL, BORROW PITS, AND WETLANDS 974 4837.683 GOLF COURSES 31 4458.451 ACREAGE NOT ZONED FOR AGRICULTURAL 76 2207.137 VACANT COMMERCIAL 337 1654.116 MULTI FAMILY LESS THAN 10 UNITS 1072 1075.384 PARKING LOTS, MOBILE HOME SALES 65 1063.899 PUBLIC SCHOOLS 18 999.067 VACANT INSTITUTIONAL 41 931.763 UTILITIES 112 797.883 CHURCHES 121 612.458 ORCHARD, GROVES, CITRUS 10 513.132 AIRPORTS, MARINAS, BUS TERMINALS, AND PIERS 8 473.896 WAREHOUSES, AND DISTRIBUTION CENTERS 299 427.151 MORTUARIES, CEMETERIES 9 406.147 MINERAL PROCESSING 19 385.921 COMMUNITY SHOPPING CENTERS 70 337.652 VACANT INDUSTRIAL 115 324.052 MULTI FAMILY 56 280.033 PARCELS WITH NO VALUES 1884 276.618 CLUBS, LODGES, AND UNION HALLS 30 266.094 ORNAMENTALS, MISC. AGRICULTURE 22 222.211 RETIREMENT HOMES 7 221.252 MOBILE HOMES 2099 218.711 LIGHT MANUFACTURING 90 207.391 STORES ONE STORY 280 206.953 CROPLAND SOIL CLASS 2 1 169.264 AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, SERVICE, AND SALES 144 165.714 RIGHTS OF WAY STREETS, ROADS, AND CANALS 68 165.468 DEPARTMENT STORES 11 147.991 OTHER COUNTIES 19 112.517 ORPHANAGES 19 108.98 RIVERS, LAKES, AND SUBMERGED LANDS 31 104.438 PROFESSIONAL SERVICE BUILDINGS 96 101.937 COLLEGES 2 101.585 OTHER MUNICIPAL 16 97.898 REGIONAL SHOPPING MALLS 5 93.959 TIMBERLAND 4 89.972
58 Table 4 6 Continued. DESCRIPT Count Acres HOMES FOR AGED 20 89.67 ONE STORY NON PROFESSIONAL OFFICES 159 88.886 INDUSTRIAL STORAGE (FUEL, EQUIP, AND MATERIAL) 67 82.028 CONDOMINIA 715 79.489 MULTI STORY NON PROFESSIONAL OFFICES 98 79.053 PRIVATE SCHOOLS 18 76.992 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 64 73.564 PUBLIC HOSPITALS 1 63.692 SANITARIUMS, CONVALESCENT, AND BEST HOMES 7 60.74 LUMBER YARDS, SAWMILLS, PLANNING MILLS, 4 50.564 RESTAURANTS, CAFETERIAS 61 48.612 OTHER STATE 6 39.85 HOTELS, MOTELS 22 38.834 DRIVE IN RESTAURANTS 34 29.107 PRIVATE HOSPITALS 1 28.188 FLORIST, GREENHOUSES 4 22.732 GOV. OWNED LEASED BY NON GOV. LESSEE 14 21.654 RACE HORSE, AUTO, AND DOG TRACKS 4 19.57 BOWLING ALLEYS, SKATING RINGS, ENCLOSED ARENAS 3 16.424 OTHER FEDERAL 6 10.783 CAMPS 1 9.586 NIGHT CLUBS, BARS, AND COCKTAIL LOUNGES 11 9.527 REPAIR SERVICE SHOPS 20 9.393 CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS 7 8.042 TOURIST ATTRACTIONS 2 5.396 SERVICE STATIONS 10 5.286 HEAVY MANUFACTURING 2 5.087 SUPERMARKET 2 4.822 ENCLOSED THEATERS, AUDITORIUMS 4 2.725 FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND MEAT PACKING 1 2.278 Total 145322.363 Source: Sarasota County Parcel 2009
59 Figure 4 1. Food desert locations in Sarasota County Source: USDA Food Desert Locator
60 A B C Figure 4 2 .TRF policy map of Sarasota County. A) Low Access Area(LAA) Status, as of 2010 B) TRF's 2007 Neighborhood Income Distribution Analysis C) Estimated percent of workers who commuted to work using public transit in 2005 2009 Source: TRF policy map
61 Figure 4 3. Place to buy gallon of milk analysis, Sarasota County Source: Source: Sarasota County GIS Department
62 Figure 4 4. Food access index from Census block centroid point to healthy food outlets in Sarasota County using M
63 Figure 4 5 Food access index from Census block centroid point to healthy food outlets in Sarasota County using M
64 Figure 4 6. Food access index of Sarasota County in walking network (1/2 mile)
65 Figure 4 7. Food access index of Sarasota County in driving network (10 miles)
66 Figure 4 8. Food deserts based on proximity to healthy food outlets and proximity and coverage to healthy food outlets
67 Figure 4 9 Food deserts and EPLs
68 Figure 4 10. Food deserts, Sarasota County, FL (excluding EPLs)
69 Figure 4 11.Food deserts for pedestrian
70 Figure 4 12. Food deserts for drivers
71 A B Figure 4 13. Comparison between residential parcel and census block centroid point A) Distance (the nearest distance) from residential parcel to healthy food outlets B ) Distance (the nearest distance) from census block centroid point to healthy food outlets
72 Figure 4 14. Food access index overlaid in residential land use parcel. It is distributed in three equal percentage of overall distances to the nearest healthy food outlets from each residential parcel.
73 Figure 4 15. Distribution of population with below poverty, and food deserts in Sarasota County, FL
74 Figure 4 16. N o vehicle ownership distribution, and food deserts in Sarasota County, FL
75 Figure 4 17. Population 65 years older, and food deserts in Sarasota County, FL
76 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION This thesis demonstrates how GIS technology can effectively analyze local food environments and benefit residents based on spatial analysis. Most importantly, the overlay analysis and the creation of a food access index contribute to identify food desert candidates and address the research questions under examination in this study What is the definition of food dese rt? Is it absolute or does it varies from one case to another? Yes, the definition of a food desert can be broad, because it incorporates questions from social theory, and relating to the physical environment, the For example, a widespread assertion from human rights would be that access to safe, nutritious food is a fundamental concept (Furey et al., 2001). By all accounts, food deserts in Sarasota County have been distributed for pedestrians and drivers separatel y, and then spatially illustrated under census block scope, which is assessed by applying the food access index. Because residents who may walk to healthy food outlets have a maximum of a half mile eligible buffer to hold products, excluding the walking bu ffer from Census blocks that had been assessed as miles buffer (drivable distance to healthy food outlets) yields food deserts for drivers. What areas in Sarasota County have spatial ine quality of food access? Food desert candidates in Sarasota County were explored in combining food access index and transportation network. This study has found City of North Port, Venice and North central South of County are the areas with spatial inequal ities in access to food outlets within both transportation network. It can be argued that food deserts underlay on
77 locations of food outlets and where street network are affordable for customers to reach food outlets. A major contribution of this research resulted from the utilization and evaluation of different measures to determine accessibility. For the residents without personal vehicle while inhabit in transportation network, assessing public transit lines/routes will be needed to more accurately measu re food desert candidates. Since drivable network was applied in this study, not only the residents currently live these areas but population in 10 miles distance visit as well if there are related attractions such as community garden which addresses the i mportance of fresh foods for healthier life style. County should actively encourage food outlet development, increasing public transit network and building community garden in areas currently identified as food deserts. Food P olicy and F ood A ssistance P rograms Once physical food access assessment has been evaluated, one of the obvious solutions is to implement policies that locate more full service food retail er s in identified food desert s in the U.S. and across the globe. Morland et al.(2002a) and Wrigley et al (2002) supports this policy because introducing new food stores in British cities in low food access area s has helped eradicate lack of food access while also promoting the increase of healthy food consumption such as fruit and vegetable (U.S Census trac k). Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) in Pennsylvania is represented as an example of policy intervention. Over the six years of commitment, purpose of FFFI succeeded to locate 83 new or improved grocery stores and food access has been encouraged for 400,000 residents (USDA 2009). Additionally 4,860 jobs have been created as well due to this economic opportunity.
78 food access by itself but it is a matter of transportation form. Policies suggested in several regions focus on developing more accessible transportation infrastructure as another option. Expanding local bus routes or frequency is generally implied in providing transportation needs for m any socioeconomic disparity households. Other than that, providing shuttle service that connects food retailers to residents was proposed in order to supplement alternative transportation methods as well. To provide more opportunity to purchase food, while physical limitation s such as food access exists food assistance programs increased food security, a healthy diet, and access to food. Generally Supplement Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP 7 ) from USDA is well known all over the U.S. and each county or st ate has their own assistance programs due to its environments. For example, New York City implemented Healthy Bodegas which aimed to lessen access inequality for healthy foods. The program aimed to increase the amount of healthy foods in small grocery stor es to promote healthy eating by improving the availability, quality and variety of healthy foods in targeted areas. To prevent forms of food desert, Sarasota County has included agricultural food policy in Comprehensive Plan in 2006 and established Sarasot a Food Policy Council (SFPC) in UF/IFAS Sarasota County Extension Office to support the goals of environments to residents. For instance, SFPC programs i nclude building com munity 7 In fiscal year 2010, about 40.3 million people living in 18.6 million U.S. households participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), on average, per month. SNAP households are a diverse group. Because benefits are available to most low income house holds with few resources, regardless of age, disability status, or family structure, participants represent a broad cross section of the Nation's poor.
79 gardens that emphasize the needs of healthy fresh foods and it is actively in process by educational workshops. The UF/Sarasota County Extension Long Range Plan 2012 2016 (2011) addresses the objective of programs that has been aimed to improve loca l foods and agriculture as below: Support provision of fresh and nutritious food options and nutrition education in schools Generate increased awareness about locally grown foods Provide education on food safety issues The residents of Sarasota County expe ct a sustainable food system and want to buy local food which would be a catalyst healthy living. It is represented though the online survey from April 14th to June 1st, 2011 with 257 responses; 71 percentages of respondents pointed out the needs of fre sh nutritious food option programs and; 61 percentages of responses were about priority issues of food safety. In the Listening Session held on May 12, 2011, 15 votes from 62 attendees stressed County needs make efforts on local foods and agricultural prog rams as priority as well (Sarasota County Long Range Plan, 2011) Community G ardens Developing methods to distribute healthy foods to at risk communities is not an easy task. To solve this problem, as mentioned above, Sarasota County has initiated building community gardens in urban areas. Forty three of gardens already exist with the c ity s boundary C ommunity gardens are clustered in City of Sarasota and Venice where dense population has because designated urban agriculture area by property criteria which do not necessarily s how correlation with local food access and community garden (Figure 6 1). T hese benefits like an urban agricultural purpose. Garden s
80 promote fresh and healthy products that offer population more choices for healthy foods. In addition, when gardens locate near residential and institutional land use s they p rovide snacks and meals to schools and support communities Overall it offers a better quality of life and beautifies the po pulations and areas, all of which are health benefits. This study suggests GIS can be helpful at creating spatial case studies that can identify unique characteristics about specific areas that may not follow the general patterns found in other regions. Although some of the findings from this study con trast with literatures and previous research, the proximity measures were able to effectively identify vulnerable regions in Sarasota County. In terms of food policy, GIS may prove to be extremely valuable for organizations concerned about the healthy eati ng of their community. Once these at risk areas are identified, it opens up the possibility for targeting specific neighborhoods and implementing effective programs running in County Extension office such as creating community garden and educating importan ce of local foods. Limitation of this S tudy This study presents few limitations: Needs of S urvey and H ealth O utcome First, data and methodology are limited to a qualitative method. Although the food access index is derived from previous empirical studies, relying on quantitative data for a sizable portion of this study means that the information does not represent re actual time, distance, and frequency to go grocery shopping. With more time and resources, this limitation can be overcome by completing resident survey s or conducting interviews with the criteria below: How many fruit and vegetable servings do yo u consume a day?
81 Where do you go grocery shopping? Do you either walk or drive to grocery? Does anyone in the household suffer from a weight related disease such as obesity? If so, are they aware of how diet can contribute to its onset? W hile the built fo od environment was used to examine the geographic distribution of potential health disparities at the neighborhood level the health outcome data was unable to be incorporated into this study. Since it was not available to join within Census block group sc ope, the potential access acts as a proxy for actual physical wellbeing. Transit R outes and O pportunity with Euclidean D istance Second, the methodology used two distinct measures to evaluate food access: proximity to healthy food outlet and walking/driving network. In determining walking/driving network, network analysis tool in ArcMap 10 computed potential walking and driving boundary from healthy food outlets because this measurement has been deemed sufficient by previous food proximity study (Larsen and Gilliland, 2008). However more realistic determination for walking and driving distance could be made by examining actual travel time, an d the actual pedestrian network, which would consider element such as sidewalks, crosswalks, speed limits, informal paths, and lanes of traffic (Bejleri et al., 2009). This calculation also fails to account for the other alternative transit transportation modes or routes that residents may use to visit these food locations. Additionally limitation from using Manhattan distance to measure proximity, from census block centroid point to the nearest healthy food outlets may occur because it does not represents the minimum distance may be assessed as shortest path (Euclidean distance)
82 Definition of H ealthy F ood O utlets Last, b ecause this study assessed healthy food outlets as places where residents can reach constant fresh and organic food farmers market s and food sta nds are excluded due to their mobile characteristics. The results show a majority of food deserts are near I 75 in Sarasota County, but these areas also have an abundance of food stands. Food stands are one way to increase access to healthy foods. Although food stands sometimes sell food that is unhealthy and contaminated because they are often located near busy streets, these businesses unlike grocery stores, adjust their inventory quickl y to fit the fresh food demands of the community. While conducting this study, f ood stands are not included in the o verall analysis due to limitation on the avail ability of GIS data but it is possible that they could impact the findings of this study if they are included Opportunity for F uture R esearch While this thesis only limits transportation mode into walking and driving p ersonal automobile, future studies would benefit from incorporating measurements of public transit transportation and trips relating to commuting t o commute to work, school, and shopping. Additionally as shown in findings, physical environment (distance) plays an impor tant role to understand food deserts and guide decisions where healthy food stores are needed to be placed. Additional revision of the definition of food deserts using health related issue, such as obesity rate and with Body Mass Index (BMI) would benefit analyzing food desert in reality. For example, using GIS in conjunction with multivariate models to evaluate the relationship between obesity rate and food access
83 index to healthy or either unhealthy foods may provide how these healthy and unhealthy f ood outlets contribute to disparities in the obesity epidemic.
8 4 Figure 5 14 Community gardens in Sarasota County, FL Source: Sarasota County Green Map
85 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION This study a imed to explore the socioeconomic and physical factors that define food deserts assessing Sarasota County as a case study area. The first chapter introduced the problem statement that highlights increasing food access/food desert, and exp lained the objective s and questions related to this issue. The s econd chapter reviewed previous studies introduced food environment terms and continue d with a review of food environment inequalities derived from socioeconomic factors and physic al barriers all of which helped to create the food access index. Both empirical and quantitative methods were applied to support and measure the food access index, which is an indicator used to find food deserts. f inding s and results represent two steps to ward find ing food deserts : Step 1. The findings confirmed that some areas of the county have comparatively better food access than others; the s outh ern portion of the city of Sarasota the e ast e rn portion of the city of Venic e and the city center of North Port are food deserts. Step 2. The result s of the study suggest that the assessment of food deserts should depend on the modes of transportation that residents of a given area employ to reach areas where food is available The conclusion is that food deserts do exist in Sarasota County, FL. As shown in the literature review, food desert s appeared in areas with a high density of low income households, a low per capita vehicle ownership and an older population. For example, much of the p opulation living in downtown Sarasota is at or below poverty level has very poor levels of pedestrian access to food outlets and due to low vehicle ownership, cannot access food by driving This is true of the elderly po pulation as well Although
86 food deserts did appear more often in Sarasota County than in other counties with similar socioeconomic disparities, it i s still difficult to prove a strong cor relation between physical distance to food and the exist ence of food deserts.
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92 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Sulhee Yoon was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1986 as an only daughter of Kyungshin Kim and Hyun mo Yoon. Sulhee was named as learn English in her childhood. She sta rt ed her college life with urban design and engineering major for two years, and later transferred to biotechnology/bioscience then received her B achelor of Science and Engineering degree at Sejong University, South Korea 2009. While in her senior summer vacation, Sulhee interned in Red Cross in Los Toward the end of career, she decided to coming back to pursue degree in urban planning and focus on environmental p lanning in United States. in fall, 2009 After her first semester she had been worked as a research assistant in a year and also embarked on an internship with Alachua County Growth Management as a CRA project intern. In Summer 2011, Sulhee completed an internship at the UF/IFAS Sara sota Extension office and conducted food desert research for County. design/form and transportation with applying GIS modeling. After graduation she hopes to pursue a career in compre hensive planning, especially where she can use her GIS skills.