The Leeds “food deserts” intervention study: what the focus groups reveal

Abstract

This paper outlines the research agenda of the food deserts in British Cities project, and reports findings from a set of qualitative focus group studies conducted following a major retail provision intervention in a low‐income, deprived area of Leeds. It explores the impacts of the transformation of physical access to full‐range retailing in the area, and assesses the views of the residents who had switched their main food source as a result of the intervention compared to those who had not. Finally, it interrogates residents’ perceptions of the impact (if any) of the intervention on their food consumption habits and their potential to eat a more healthy diet.

Purchase power: An examination of consumption as voting

“…Over thirty years ago, social marketers identified the disadvantaged consumer of the 'urban ghettos' (Andreasen, 1975), neighbourhoods that lack income and attract a variety of retailers characterised by high prices, low competition, lower quality, and a smaller choice of available goods (Hill, 2008 (Furey, Strugnell, & McIlveen, 2001;Paddison & Calderwood, 2007;Wrigley, Warm, Margetts & Lowe, 2004). Other marginalised consumers have found themselves excluded from mainstream consumption practices, and consequently the rest of society, solely by the fact they cannot afford to buy goods (Williams & Windebank, 2002).…”

The Social Determinants of Food Purchasing Practices: Who Chooses Price-before-Health, Taste-before-Price or Organic Foods in Australia?

“…During the financial year 2007-8, overall food prices rose 3.9%, while some basic food prices rose more sharply: cheese by 14.2%, milk by 12.1%, poultry by 11.0% and bread by 6.8% [9]. Food cost plays a significant role in mediating food choice among low socio-economic status (SES) groups [10,11], who often have to cut back on food spending to make room for other essentials such as housing and utilities [12][13][14][15], leading to decreased food security [16].…”

Reaching the limits: a geographic approach for understanding food insecurity and household hunger mitigation strategies in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, USA

“…As these methods and approaches are now frequently combined in the developing world (Moseley and Logan 2005) and the UK (Whalen et al 2002;Wrigley et al 2003;Wrigley et al 2004), it only seems appropriate that these conceptual advances be applied to hunger monitoring in the US. We finally note that, in this very brief review of food security research in the Global South and North, we clearly have omitted large bodies of related scholarship.…”