Food access and food deserts: the diverse methods that residents of a neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota use to provision themselves

Abstract

Using data from a survey of residents living in a United States Department of Agriculture defined food desert in Duluth, Minnesota, this article examines the diverse ways that people living in a neighborhood without a grocery store feed themselves. We found that there is no singular experience of living in a food desert. Many neighborhood residents were highly mobile and shopped at a wide variety of local grocery stores, and a small group of neighborhood residents without cars relied on public transit, neighborhood convenience stores, and borrowing vehicles in order to provision themselves. These coping strategies were expensive and time-consuming, especially for the most vulnerable members of the community such as single parents and those without cars. We use the variety of experiences of people living in a food desert to propose interventions that would help improve food access in the community.

Food Insecurity and Social Capital Among Middle School Students

“…Our findings are generally consistent with previous research suggesting that poverty and limited accessibility to food sources are important factors influencing food insecurity (Coleman-Jensen et al, 2015; Dean & Sharkey, 2011; Pine & Bennett, 2014). Environmental and economic circumstances (i.e., poverty and accessibility) are clearly key factors influencing the differential distribution of food insecurity among children.…”

“…Food insecurity and healthy food intake are shaped by several characteristics of place, including poverty and limited accessibility (Dean & Sharkey, 2011; Pine & Bennett, 2014). While poverty is one way of assessing the limited purchasing power of a household or individual, limited accessibility can tell us something about the purchasing power of the place a person inhabits, and their ease in navigating that place.…”

Mapping Urban Geographies of Food and Dietary Health: A Synthesized Framework

“…Further, a singular focus on locational proximity is likely to obscure the varied ways that people procure food and the broader political economic processes that contribute to the distribution of material resources and power across urban space and societies (Alkon et al ; Block et al ; Pine & Bennett ; Shannon ). Spatial models, however sophisticated, may not be able to fully account for the complexities of access and how individuals actually interact with or experience their surroundings (Hillier et al ).…”

Food system activism and the housing crisis

“…This situation has clear impacts on the food system: farm, restaurant, and grocery store workers need safe, affordable housing, and both unhoused and shelter-poor families experience high rates of food insecurity (Sprake et al, 2013). Further, neighborhoods defined by the USDA as food deserts are also areas with higher rates of affordable rental units (Pine & Bennett, 2014). Addressing these interconnections demands action from many institutions that shape community life, such as federal and local government and nonprofit organizations.…”