T he metaphor of "food deserts," used to describe neighborhoods with limited food retail, has captured the public and academic imagination in recent years (Cummins and Macintyre 2002). Yet the metaphor has been used rather loosely, in some instances referring to areas marked by an absence of supermarkets (Short, Guthman, and Raskin 2007), in others to areas characterized by limited retail outlets that sell healthful foods (Wrigley et al. 2002). These shifting definitions arise, in part, from limited empirical research on the precise nature, extent, and location of food destinations and disparities in access to these destinations. Without developing a nuanced and empirically substantiated understanding of inadequacies and disparities in the neighborhood food environments, it is difficult to fulfill the charge of devising comprehensive planning solutions to tackle neighborhood food insecurity (Kaufman 2004), improve public health (Boarnet 2006), and create more equitable access to healthful foods.This article contributes to the emerging community and regional food planning literature by asking the question: how do food environments in neighborhoods of color differ from those in other neighborhoods? Specifically, we test the hypothesis that access to different types of food retail destinations, located within a five-minute travel time, in predominantly black and mixed-race neighborhoods differs from that in predominantly white neighborhoods, while controlling for factors such as income, population, and area of the neighborhood.Similar to some studies (Moore and Diez Roux 2006; Zenk et al. 2005) we find an absence of certain healthful food sources, namely supermarkets, in minority neighborhoods when compared to predominantly white neighborhoods. However, contrary to reports in the popular press and studies from elsewhere in the country (Mari Gallaghar Research and Consulting Group 2006), our study reveals an extensive network of small grocery stores available within a five-minute travel time of minority neighborhoods that offers a tremendous opportunity for creating healthful food environments within neighborhoods of color. The use of the metaphor "food deserts," which conjures the image of the absence of food retail outlets, is not an adequate description of the food environments in minority neighborhoods in Erie County. Our findings suggest that rather than soliciting supermarkets, creative planning and policy support for AbstractGiven the emerging focus on improving food environments and food systems through planning, this article investigates racial disparities in neighborhood food environments. An empirical case of Erie County, New York tests the hypothesis that people belonging to different racial groups have access to different neighborhood food destinations. Using multiple methods-Gini coefficients and Poisson regression-we show that contrary to studies elsewhere in the country there are no food deserts in Erie County. However, like other studies, we find an absence of supermarkets in neighborhoods of color w...

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The authors present the results of a neighborhood-scaled exploratory study that tests the association of the food environment and the built environment with women's body mass index (BMI) in Erie County, New York. The proximity of women's homes to a supermarket relative to a convenience store is associated with lower BMI. A diverse land use mix in a neighborhood is positively associated with women's BMI, especially when restaurants dominate nonresidential land use. The article offers suggestions for how food environments may be improved using planning strategies. AbstractThe authors present the results of a neighborhood-scaled exploratory study that tests the association of the food environment and the built environment with women's body mass index (BMI) in Erie County, New York. The proximity of women's homes to a supermarket relative to a convenience store is associated with lower BMI. A diverse land use mix in a neighborhood is positively associated with women's BMI, especially when restaurants dominate nonresidential land use. The article offers suggestions for how food environments may be improved using planning strategies.

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