Food Assistance Deserts in Central Florida: Identifying Service Gaps Using Spatial Analysis

Curran, Emily; Armenia, Amy

doi:10.1177/1936724420984401

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…While previous research emphasizes proximity to the supermarket (Hosler et al, 2021 ; Janda et al, 2021), our study demonstrates that longer distances to the emergency food distribution site create food access challenges. This finding adds to previous literature on food assistance deserts (Curran & Armenia, 2021 ; Waity, 2016 ) by showing that proximity to emergency food distribution sites matters for accessing food during a public health crisis.…”

Section: Contributions and Policy Implicationssupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The evidence generated to answer this question has important implications for policymakers and practitioners. Residents of socially vulnerable neighborhoods face multiple challenges—such as transportation insecurity and long distances (Curran & Armenia, 2021 ; El-Geneidy et al, 2016 )—to access emergency food assistance at food banks and pantries (Fong et al, 2016 ), and these challenges likely are more severe during a health crisis (Zack et al, 2021 ). If residents of socially vulnerable neighborhoods in urban areas were unable or unwilling to access emergency food assistance during the pandemic, then policymakers and practitioners can expect more adverse short- and long-term health outcomes related to food insecurity in these vulnerable areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Relationship Between Emergency Food Assistance and Social Vulnerability During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chakraborty

Aun

Schober

2022

Appl. Spatial Analysis

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Food insecurity is a major public health challenge that is associated with negative health outcomes in wealthy countries. In US urban areas, food banks and pantries played an expanded role in providing emergency food assistance and addressing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study seeks to determine if socially vulnerable neighborhoods are more likely to receive emergency food assistance during this pandemic, after controlling for distance to emergency food distribution sites and spatial clustering. The study area is El Paso County, Texas—an urban area on the US-Mexico border. Dependent variables represent both coverage and intensity of emergency food transfers (EFTs) from local food banks and pantries during November 2020, at the census tract level. Independent variables are derived from the widely used Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Our statistical analyses are based on multivariable generalized estimating equations that account for spatial clustering and proximity to emergency food distribution sites. Results indicate that both coverage and intensity of EFTs are significantly greater in neighborhoods with higher social vulnerability and proximity to emergency food distribution sites, but lower in neighborhoods that are more vulnerable in terms of housing and transportation. Our findings highlight the significance of neighborhood-level social factors in influencing access to the emergency food network during a public health crisis and have important implications for government agencies and nonprofit organizations associated with public health and emergency preparedness in US urban areas.

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Section: Contributions and Policy Implicationssupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Relationship Between Emergency Food Assistance and Social Vulnerability During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chakraborty

Aun

Schober

2022

Appl. Spatial Analysis

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“…Based on the criteria specified in Section two, six districts had been identified as potential locations for food banks (Table 3, Figure 1). In a model developed by Curran and Armenia (2021), population density is found not a significant predictor of food assistance but the model is responsive to poverty, area, and race. Therefore, districts with the highest percentage of expatriates such as Sanaiya and Al Khrair are more suitable for the location of new food banks (Figure 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…GIS was used by Eckert and Shetty (2011) to design and quantify access to food retail. Based on centroid locations within each census block and a typical onemile radius surrounding each block group centroid, Curran and Armenia (2021) employed spatial analysis to identify food service gaps, or "food deserts," in Central Florida. They defined high-need food assistance deserts as areas where more than a 36 percent of the population's income falls under 200 percent of the poverty line and the block group population centroid is more than a mile away from the nearest food assistance location.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing and Gis for Food Banks

Yagoub

Hosani

Alshehhi

et al. 2022

ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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Abstract. Food banks play an important role in sustainability (saving food-reducing waste), economy, and social cohesion. Investment in food banks supports compassion, generosity, solidarity, and hospitality. The objective of this study is to demonstrate how remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) could be used to address social and environmental problems such as food banks. In many cases data about socioeconomic is gathered using sample qualitative surveys/interviews and this lacks spatial reference. Moreover, even this data may not be available for researchers in the same way as in this study. Remote sensing was found as an effective tool and proxy to extract socioeconomic indicators such as size of building, distance between houses, streets width, and scarcity of trees/greenness (vegetative indicator). The indicators together with GIS multi-criteria and weighted overlay were used to find suitable food bank locations. The research aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals number 2, 11, and 12. Beneficiaries of this study may include charitable organizations, food producers/consumers (restaurants, hotels, individuals), and environmental departments (water, energy, waste). The methodology used in this study could be adopted by other researchers around the globe.

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“…Mabli et al ( 2013 ) conducted a nationwide study of pantry access in locations without supermarkets, revealing that 40% of census tracts without supermarkets had food pantries. Other research has focused on identifying gaps in access to food assistance programs employing proximity-based approaches similar to those used to identify food deserts (Bacon and Baker 2017 ; Curran and Armenia 2021 ; Waity 2016 ). Bacon and Baker ( 2017 ), for example, classified census tracts in Santa Clara County, California, based on their food insecurity and distance from food pantries to identify gaps in food pantry access.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing changes in food pantry access after extreme events

et al. 2022

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Food pantries play a growing role in supporting households facing or at risk of food insecurity in the United States. They also support emergency response and recovery following disasters and extreme weather events. Although food pantries are often placed in close proximity to communities with the highest rates of poverty and risk of food insecurity, access to these facilities can be disrupted during and after extreme events. Decreased access to food pantries following disasters can be particularly problematic as the need for these services is also likely to grow after such events. Despite the vast body of research on food retail access and food environments, relatively little research has utilized spatial analysis to understand food pantry access, particularly after extreme events. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we characterize changes in access to food pantries following flooding events in Harris County, Texas—a highly populated and flood prone region with high levels of food insecurity and poverty. Specifically, our study models disruptions in road networks due to flooding and assesses the impacts of these disruptions on proximity to food pantries. The results reveal that much of Harris County sees only small increases in travel distance to food pantries due to extreme flooding, but some areas may be unable to access food pantries at all. This research highlights the potential and some of the limits of private food assistance networks to support emergency response efforts.

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Food Assistance Deserts in Central Florida: Identifying Service Gaps Using Spatial Analysis

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

Assessing the Relationship Between Emergency Food Assistance and Social Vulnerability During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Assessing the Relationship Between Emergency Food Assistance and Social Vulnerability During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Remote Sensing and Gis for Food Banks

Assessing changes in food pantry access after extreme events

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