Administrative Publication No. (AP-036) 160 pp
Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food-Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences: Report to Congress
This report fills a request for a study of food deserts-areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food-from the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. The report summarizes findings of a national-level assessment of the extent and characteristics of food deserts, analysis of the consequences of food deserts, lessons learned from related Federal programs, and a discussion of policy options for alleviating the effects of food deserts. Overall, findings show that a small percentage of consumers are constrained in their ability to access affordable nutritious food because they live far from a supermarket or large grocery store and do not have easy access to transportation.
Keywords: Food deserts, food access, supermarkets, grocery stores, food prices, low-income communities, rural areas, urban areas, small towns, transportation, obesity, diet, poverty, policy options
In this publication...
- Entire Report
- Abstract, Contents, and Summary
- Introduction
- The Extent of Limited Food Access in the United States
- The Interaction of Neighborhood and Household Characteristics in Explaining Areas With Limited Access
- Food Access and Its Relationship to Diet and Health Outcomes
- Food Access and Its Relationship To Food Choice
- The Economics of Supermarket and Grocery Store Location
- Community Food Projects
- Policy Options
- Future Research Needs
- Appendix A: Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Understanding Food Deserts
- Appendix B: Measures of Access Used in Food Desert and Related Studies
- Appendix C: Methods, Supporting Tables, and Maps for National-Level Analysis of Supermarket Access
- Appendix D: Examples of Community Food Projects by Type of Project
- Download AP036.zip
- Report summary
- Download additional maps
