Food Deserts in Des Moines, IA (2020)

Food Deserts in Des Moines, IA Rachel Scudder

Research Question How does food access differ across the urban/rural divide?

How does where a person live affect their access to healthy food options?

Abstract Food access and food insecurity are connected to levels of income, race, ethnicity, and geography. The higher a household’s income, typically there is a higher access to healthy food. The whiter a neighborhood, regardless of income, the more access to healthy food a household has. Through a multi-pronged approach using transection, GIS data collection, food option profiling, and a geographic food desert survey, I address the questions of how the urban / rural food deserts act differently across race, ethnicity, income, and physical access and if where a person lives determines their access to healthy food options. Through this research I expose what food access means for an urban community and a rural community geographically, as well as socio-economically.

Introduction Food access in the United States stages a complex set of issues for planners and designers. Food access issues relate directly to geographic proximity to unhealthy or healthy food options, race, income level, and can vary access levels across the urban / rural divide. Access to healthy food is directly tied to human health and wellbeing. Food access is defined differently to across geographies and can mean different things to different sets of people. A food desert in a rural community has a different connotation than a food desert in an urban setting (Yousefian, 2011). Even a household not living in a USDA designated food desert can face issues of food access related to vehicular access, walkability, access to efficient public transportation, time, unhealthy food options (aka fast food, or lack of sufficient food options at a local grocer), or affordability. Using Des Moines, IA as a case study, I use a transecting a

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line through multiple incomes areas, race and through both the urban and rural landscape, I hope to expose the disproportionate relationship between income, race, food access, and what these mean to both urban and rural communities in terms of food accessibility. What makes this research different from other research around food access is addressing not only food access in urban settings across socioeconomic lines, but what this means for the transection of food access across rural landscapes as well.

Background A food desert is defined by the USDA as lack of access to affordable nutritious food by geographic location. Food insecurity is defined by the USDA, as a household’s lack of food access at certain times to enough food (Figure 1) (USDA). According to the USDA food insecurity creates barriers within a household to lead active and healthy lives due to limited and/or uncertain availability of nutritional foods. Examples of nutritionally adequate foods are fresh fruits or vegetables along with other healthy food options. Food insecure households do not experience food insecurity necessarily all the time (although some households do), but a household who experiences food insecurity may have to decide between other basic needs like housing, medical bills, and nutritionally adequate foods.

Living in a food desert increases a person’s likelihood to experience chronic food insecurity with harmful impacts to human health and wellbeing (Hilmers, 2012). There is a definitive relationship between food insecurity, food desert locations, and poverty level. People living in low income neighborhoods are more likely to not be within a reasonable geographic proximity to healthy food site like a grocery store or a supermarket (Hilmers, 2012) (Walker, 2010). Food security in rural areas is like urban food security, in that it is defined by access to food by geographic distance a person has to travel to get healthy food. What is different is the distances traveled by low income rural folk compared to urban folks. People in rural areas can sometimes travel up to 80 miles to get to a grocery store or supermarket that has what they need (Yousefian, 2011). That means there is most likely a decreased

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frequency in which people can travel, which can lead to poorer buying habits because of a necessity to store food for a long period of time (Yousefian, 2011). In urban areas, however, food access may be limited by access to a car, and the availability of unhealthy options that deter making healthy choices (Hilmers, 2012) (Walker, 2010). A person’s reasonable geographic access to healthy food is imperative to live an overall healthier and longer life.

Research around food access has been explored separately through the lens of income variability, race, the urban/rural divide and through an exploration of the affect lack of food security and access has on human health. Physical access to healthy food options are vital to a person’s ability to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This same data that ties physical access to healthy food options to health also suggests that a change in the local food environment can change a person’s diet for the better (Moore, 2006). What this study pulls together is the importance of the spatial relationships of our built environments to food access and how all of these factors intersect with each other.

Literature Review The intention for this literature review is to expose what research already exists on the relationship between food access and socio-economic factors like income and race, as well as geographic factors like the differences between food access in urban and rural communities. This research is set to inform a framework for further study.

Income and Race / Ethnicity When it comes to food deserts, studies have tied geographic relationships between income and race. When research is done on the subject of food deserts, most studies tie issues of income to issues of race and ethnicity. Living in a low-income neighborhood puts a household in a higher proximity to an increased number of unhealthy eating options (like fast food restaurants) (Hilmers, 2012) (Lewis, 2005).

In predominately white neighborhoods, not only are there less options for unhealthy food, but there are more options for healthy food in restaurants (Lewis, 2005). Within the same study that associates low-

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income areas with an increased number of unhealthy eating options, there was also similarities drawn between the racial and ethnic characteristics of a neighborhood. More white neighborhoods were noted to have a higher number of grocery stores within a closer proximity, with less convenience stores and unhealthy food options (Hilmers, 2012) (Moore, 2006). Richer white neighborhoods are researched as having four times as many supermarkets than poor neighborhoods (Morland, 2002). Another study that looks into a low-income mixed-race neighborhoods’ notes, more supermarkets with healthy food options than that of equally low-income black neighborhoods (Moore, 2006). That means if you are poor and living in a predominately black neighborhood, you are more likely to have poor food security than that of poor white people. Minority neighborhoods were reported to have a higher proportion of convenience stores and small grocery stores compared to white neighborhoods (Moore, 2006).Because of the lack of supermarkets, all low income populations tend to pay higher prices overall for food shopping because of a lack of access to the less expensive supermarkets (Chung, 2005). Noted in another study are not only the relationships between access to grocery stores in whiter, richer neighborhoods, but these neighborhoods also were noted in having three times fewer places to buy alcohol from (Morland, 2002).

Since black and brown populations are at an increased likelihood to live in a food desert, with the temptations of unhealthy food choices, these families are forced to use other resources to provide for themselves. Living in a food desert forces providers of rural or families to rely more on their community of friends and family as well as federal and local programs to secure what they perceived as healthy food options for their family (ColĂłn-Ramos, 2018). All in all, people living in lower income black and brown neighborhoods, at the highest risk of health disparities caused by food access than a person living in a wealthier, whiter neighborhood.

Urban /Rural divide Food access is not just an urban problem like a lot of research suggests, but a rural one as well.

Even food desert maps focus on food deserts in urban areas. But households living in rural areas are

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more likely to struggle with food security and have higher childhood obesity rates than that of urban populations (Yousefian, 2011). Like research conducted in urban low income, black neighborhoods, studies in rural populations show households having to resort to creative way to get food, relying on a community network to secure fresh food. In urban settings, this may mean a reliance of neighbors, family members, or local programming (Colรณn-Ramos, 2018), while in rural areas, households may find fresh food through bartering, hunting, or harvesting (Yousefian, 2011). In urban areas, low income populations may lack access to a vehicle which poses a problem to being able to access healthier food options, while in rural settings, that is less of an issue (Yousefian, 2011).

Overall, rural and urban food deserts are both major issues that require unique solutions. Urban food deserts may simply call for an increase in the number of supermarkets in low income and predominately black neighborhoods, while in rural areas there may a larger call to action for a multipronged approach (Yousefian, 2011). Through this literature review, I have shown the relationship between urban and rural communities, and their different requirements for access. In Framework for Study 1, there is a conclusion drawn across the literature review that will serve as the basis for the rest of the research.

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Framework for Study 1

Methods The methods explored in this research focuses on a multi-pronged approach to understand the urban/rural dynamic’s association between food security, income, and race and/or ethnicity. The mixed method approach focuses on a combination of data analysis, mapping, and surveying. The following summarizes how the transect was selected, data collected, and ground truthed.

Transect (Figure 3)A transect is a line drawn through the landscape to examine changes in physical dynamics of a place. A transect is useful in distinguishing housing patterns in a way other surveys cannot (Volk, 2010).

The transect line goes through an urban boundary, a natural edge, an agricultural edge, and an urban center. The line crosses elevation high and low points. The transect line passes through at least one K-12 school. The transect line passes through one potentially harmful site, and one potentially beneficial site.

The transect line passes through multiple land uses, including residential, commercial, multi-family, and industrial. The purpose of the variability is to create a complex comparison between the built environmental and food access.

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GIS Data Collection (Figure 1 & Figure 2)The GIS analysis started with drawing a the transect line (explained above), putting in “points” to intervene, as well as analyzing spatial data buffers for the City of Des Moines. The transect line crosses through GIS can help map the intersection of USDA designated food desert areas, low and high-income, areas by race, placement of food options like large supermarkets, grocery stores, local restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, fast food restaurants, and liquor stores with in urban areas walkability, affordability, and in rural areas proximity and affordability.

Food Option Profile (Figure 4) The purpose of the food option profile is to break down what qualifies as worst or best for food options. In terms of food option types. The food options are supermarket, grocery store, local restaurant, convenience store, gas station, fast food restaurant, and liquor store. Each is ranked according six criteria and are defined below.

1. Are there healthy options here?

Healthy is defined for the purpose of this study as having any number of the options listed below. The list includes some household staples that most houses keep at all times for cooking:            

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Frozen vegetables Fresh vegetables Frozen fruit Fresh fruit Eggs Milk Bread Flour Dried or canned legumes Unsalted nuts or seeds Fresh meat Frozen meat

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Rice

2. Are there fresh fruits and vegetables available in this place?

The reason to ask if a store has fresh fruits or vegetables available in a store as opposed to canned fruits or vegetables is because sometimes the process of canning a fruit or vegetable can reduce or sometimes even eliminate the nutrients that are in fresh fruits or vegetables. Frozen vegetables that have not been processed however, are comparable to fresh vegetables because they hold the same nutrient value as they had when they are fresh. Having the option of a canned vegetable over no vegetable is the healthier option than potentially processed foods.

2A. Are there a lot of options?

“A lot” of fresh and frozen fruit and vegetable options refers to an obvious place in the store for fresh and frozen vegetables, as well as a number of varieties to choose from. A place like a supermarket that has a lot of options is has a designated produce section where a customer can choose from dozens of options for fresh food, often times with deals on higher quantities of bulk items. A place like a convenience store may have a shelf or a basket dedicated for fresh fruits or vegetables, but often this is limited to only a few options and is in high competition to high proportions of processed and unhealthy foods.

3. Is the fresh food inexpensive?

In places that sell higher quantities of vegetables, there tends to be larger amounts of “deals” for specific items. Sale items can also refer to food that is about to be out of its prime, although still edible, so therefore cost less money. Food purchased in larger stores like a supermarket tend to have more affordable options, while smaller grocery stores and convenience stores may be more expensive.

4. Are the frozen food options healthy?

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If the frozen food section contains a cooler that is dedicated to frozen fruits and vegetables that are packaged without being processed (with added fats or sugars), this means these options are healthier than not. Places like supermarkets and grocery stores will often have a well labeled section in the frozen part of their store for plain vegetables, while other food option types may not.

5. Does the store accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits?

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) also known as Food stamps are a federal and state government assistance program that allows for people who qualify to receive a monthly supplement for purchasing nutritious food. This assistance aims to relieve food insecurity and differs from state to state. Places like Iowa will also use SNAP to “double” benefits at local farmers markets to encourage people to buy healthier food options. Eligibility changes with policy changes and may not be a secure form of food resources for all people, regardless of income status.

6. Are there lower quantities of alcohol here (small proportion of the store)?

If a person goes in a store, and there are 10 shelves of food options, if 5 of them are dedicated to liquor, wine and beer, this would be regarded as high quantities of alcohol offered in the store. Places like a supermarket or small grocery store may have lower quantitates of alcohol proportional to the food they offer, while as a convenience store or gas station will have high quantities of alcohol proportional to the other types of food options they offer. Living in an area with high numbers of liquor stores is related to issues with substance abuse.

Each question in the survey that was answered with a “yes” is given 2 points, each question answered with “some” is given 1 point, and if answered with “no” is given 0 points. Each food option was graded and ranked in order from best option to worst option on the food option profile (Figure 4). This profile can be used to determine areas of high food access and determine if the food accessed is

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unhealthy or healthy. The healthy options are the “best” and unhealthy are the ‘’worst”. In the food option profile, there are definitions of each food option, as well as a ranking.

Food Options Profile Sample

Food Desert Survey (Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, & Figure 9) The food desert survey facilitates the transection and “ground-truthing” of food access in Des Moines. Through the food desert study, the survey uses the food option profile (explained above) to locate food options geographically. Using issues exposed in the literature review, a food desert survey will involve issues of access in buffers of .25 miles and .5 miles in urban settings, and 2 miles and 4 miles in rural settings, with the understanding that these two sets of populations require different types of access. As explained in the literature review, urban populations tend to have lower access to vehicles, while rural populations have higher access to vehicles and typically rely on their vehicles to access groceries. Because of COVID-19’s effect on public space, these surveys will be conducted differently through intensive review of satellite imagery on Google Maps. The intention of this method is to check USDA food desert maps accuracy, as well as expose other potential access issue with food security in Des Moines across the urban/rural divide.

Analysis & Results

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Through mapping a transect through the urban center of the Des Moines, out into rural parts of outer Des Moines and exploring food access through a hierarchy of food options (Figure 4), the results reflected what the literature review pointed to, that food access is different in rural and urban areas. The first finding is that there tends to be higher quantities of less desirable food options in poor non-white neighborhoods towards the urban core. In areas that were historically “redlined� (Figure 2), there are still high percentages of non-white people, with these areas qualifying households as both low income and low food access (Figure 3). On both sides of the urban and rural divide, there were instances of a total lack of food access at the urban transect point 6 (Figure 7) and the rural transect point 17 (Figure 9). What the urban and rural had in common, were that in places where there were of undesirable food options there tended to be high quantities of liquor stores, fast food, or convenience stores. Transect point 16 (Figure 9) exemplifies the clustering of food options all along one arterial road, both good and bad (though mostly bad). Even areas along the transect line who have better access to a supermarket or smaller grocery store tend to also be places where lower quality food options are along larger arterial roadways. This means, in poorer urban areas where a household may not have access to a car, shopping becomes more difficult. In rural areas, where most people have a car, this may not be an issue, but they must travel further to reach a supermarket or grocery store.

To answer the research question, how does food access differ across the urban/rural divide, according to the literature review and the spatial analysis in Des Moines, access to healthy food options is determined by not only proximity but access to other things, like safe sidewalks or access to a vehicle in an urban setting, and affordability and proximity in rural settings. Through this research, we can also conclude that where a person lives is directly tied to the amount of access, they have healthy and affordable food options.

Discussion

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To take this research a step further, a study could be done to examine along transect line through some of the subsequent suburbs of Des Moines, and further into more rural areas to see how they compare to the urban. Another part of this study that was unexplored in this research study was the access points of public transportation along the transect in urban areas. Another lapse in the study is there was no exploration into what types of public programming, or public markets already exists in food desert areas. Some “local restaurants� that are classified higher in scale on the food options list do not offer fresh or healthy food, and this data may be misleading, making it seem like there are more healthy options at certain transect points, like at transect point 4 and 5 (Figure 6), there are a lot of local restaurants, but a lot of these options are pizza places or burger joints.

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Addendum

Figure 1

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Figure 2

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Figure 3

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16

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Figure 4

Figure 5

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Transect Points 1-5 (The Urban Core)

Figure 6

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Transect Points 6-10

Figure 7

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Transect Points 11-15

Figure 8

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Transect Point 16 & 17 (The Rural Divide)

Figure 9

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Annotated Bibliography

1. Casapía, Martin, Serene A. Joseph, Carmen Núñez, Elham Rahme, and Theresa W. Gyorkos.

“Parasite Risk Factors for Stunting in Grade 5 Students in a Community of Extreme Poverty in Peru.” International Journal for Parasitology 36, no. 7 (June 2006): 741–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2006.03.004.

This paper goes into the relationship between poverty rates, and malnutrition in an extremely poverty ridden part of Peru. The topic discussed was to determine the factors that contribute to risk of stunting in the school-aged children. The results of the study expose a strong relationship between health and nutrition problems, and a need for a school and community level intervention that targets food programs and health education.

2. Chung, C., & Myers Jr, S. L. (1999). Do the poor pay more for food? An analysis of grocery store availability and food price disparities. Journal of consumer affairs, 33(2), 276-296.

This paper looks into the overall price a household considered low income pays for food monthly versus middle- or high-income people. The conclusion of this study is that poor people are more likely to pay more for food than less poor people. The research also suggests that richer people are more likely to have access to more affordable food than poor people.

3. Colón-Ramos, U., Monge-Rojas, R., Stevenson, T. R., Burns, H., Thurman, S., Gittelsohn, J., & Gurman, T. A. (2018). How do African-American caregivers navigate a food desert to feed their children? A photovoice narrative. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 118(11), 2045-2056.

Research in this article looks into how black and brown families who are living in a food desert find food for their families. The research looks into how non-traditional methods are used by families because of a lack of access. The conclusion of this study is that families living in a food desert rely more heavily on neighbors, friends, and community networks than other people.

4. Hilmers, A., Hilmers, D. C., & Dave, J. (2012). Neighborhood disparities in access to healthy foods and their effects on environmental justice. American journal of public health, 102(9), 1644-1654.

This paper exposes the direct connection between access to healthy food and income. The paper researches the relationship between convenience store and other unhealthy food locations in low income areas. The research exposes the need for policy changes that targets improvement of healthy eating habits in these low-income areas, but also planning and design that improves heathy options for these communities as well.

5. Lafontaine-Messier, M. (2012). Food-producing trees in urban public spaces: An innovative strategy to fight poverty in Villa El Salvador, Peru. Sustainable Cities, 17.

This research looks into the possibility of integrating fruit producing trees into the urban landscape of a food insecure part of El Salvador in Peru. The topic discusses the feasibility through the lens of land disputes, economic potential for the community, and the tension of

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public need and private interests. The conclusion of this research expresses the importance of community input and municipal support.

6. Lewis, L. B., Sloane, D. C., Nascimento, L. M., Diamant, A. L., Guinyard, J. J., Yancey, A. K., & Flynn, G. (2005). African Americans’ access to healthy food options in South Los Angeles restaurants. American journal of public health, 95(4), 668-673.

This research looks at the types of food options that are available in black and brown neighborhoods as opposed to whiter neighborhoods. In this study they look at proximity and access of food options and gauged whether the food options made it easier or harder to eat healthy. The conclusions were that black and brown neighborhoods are more likely to be near unhealthy food options, making it harder for people within these neighborhoods to eat healthy.

7. Moore, L. V., & Diez Roux, A. V. (2006). Associations of neighborhood characteristics with the location and type of food stores. American journal of public health, 96(2), 325-331.

This paper looks at the relationship between a “food environment” and racial and socioeconomic characteristics of a neighborhood. The study looks at the number of food stores and liquor stores in relation with these demographic characteristics of a neighborhood. The result are that living in a low income AND minority dominated neighborhood leads to lower healthy food access and an increase in health disparities.

8. Morland, K., Wing, S., Roux, A. D., & Poole, C. (2002). Neighborhood characteristics associated with the location of food stores and food service places. American journal of preventive medicine, 22(1), 23-29.

This research looks at the relationship between living in a wealthier, white neighborhood compared with a lower income black and brown neighborhood in terms of access to healthy food. The research looks to address physical space as a predictor of healthy food access. The research concluded that wealthier white neighborhoods were significantly more likely to have access to grocery stores and supermarkets compared to poorer, blacker communities.

9. Walker, R. E., Butler, J., Kriska, A., Keane, C., Fryer, C. S., & Burke, J. G. (2010). How does food security impact residents of a food desert and a food oasis? Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 5(4), 454-470.

This paper looks into the relationship between food insecurity, food deserts, food oasis, and perceptions of healthy eating amongst residents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The topic discussed is how ideas and access to different level of healthy food impacts buying habits. The result of the study exposes the complexity of and the importance of perception of food security and food deserts and how it varies from person to person.

10. Yousefian, A., Leighton, A., Fox, K., & Hartley, D. (2011). Understanding the rural food environment--perspectives of low-income parents. Rural & Remote Health, 11(2).

This paper looks into low-income buying and storage practices in low-income rural areas. The topics discussed are the distances traveled to fresh food, food storage practices (including a large

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amount of freezing), and adaptability of low-income rural folks. This research exposes the important difference in food desert in rural communities and urban that pushes for a more creative approach to solving food access issues than just putting in more grocery stores.

Bohl, C., & Plater-Zyberk, E. (2006). Building community across the rural-to-urban transect. Places, 18(1), 4-17.

Volk, L., & Zimmerman, T. (2002). American Households on (and off) the Urban-to-rural Transect. Journal of Urban Design, 7(3), 341-352.

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