Spatial analysis of population at risk of food insecurity using the voices from a Photovoice study

Abstract

To better understand community-level impacts of the built environmental quality on residents with less economic resources to acquire food, it is fruitful to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to the investigation. We explored how the level of spatial accessibility in communities change if we incorporate even a few factors of barriers on journey to food voiced in a Photovoice study. The resulting population coverage by food outlets was dramatically reduced in both rural and urban communities, suggesting that the usual proximity-based spatial analysis likely grossly underestimate the population at risk of lacking access to food. Therefore, a ‘real’ spatial accessibility can only be understood by incorporating factors of barriers to get to food outlets, informed by the insights of community members.

The Cost of a Nutritious Diet for Households Including People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nova Scotia: Findings and Lessons Learned by FoodNOW 2020 to 2022

“…It should also be noted, however, as VFC is a novel method and used in this study to address pandemic-related safety concerns associated with in-store food costing, geographical coverage of delivery and pick-up of online grocery orders was not a focus of this study. Traditional food access mapping, which accounts for locations of grocery stores and food deserts, does not consider the modern methods in which people are buying their groceries [45,46]. Many consumers now prefer the use of apps and online shopping services and plan to continue using online services post-pandemic [18].…”