Project: Analysis of York City as a Food Desert (Collaboration with Wellspan)
Student Researcher: Spencer Smith
Introduction & Background
“A food desert is classified as an area where the residents do not have good access to affordable, quality, and healthy food options. In areas classified as food deserts, grocery stores and farmers markets are replaced by fast food restaurants and convenience stores. An AP study found that in the last 5 years 10,000 new food retailers with only 250 of those being grocery stores. The USDA found 6,500 food deserts in the United States from analysis of Census data in 2006. One of the trends found in the data is that more urban areas are the most likely to be labeled as a food desert. York City is not listed in the 6,500 food deserts of the U.S. even though many York City residents lack access to good healthy food options. In order to properly address a food desert, areas of low level of access to healthy food options must be located. In the past 5 years there has been a push to introduce more healthy food options to York City. Many farmers markets and grocery stores have opened with community help.”
Problem/Issue Statement
“Despite not being listed as a food desert, many citizens of York City still live without good access to healthy food options. The goal of this analysis is to visually find hot spot areas for healthy/unhealthy food. On a heat map, the areas that need more aid can be seen easily.”
Conclusions
“It is evident from the analysis that there is a definite imbalance of healthy and unhealthy foods in York City. The findings actually flipped my hypothesis. Most of the unhealthy food options were on the outskirts of the city. All of the Healthy options were in the heart of York City. This is best displayed in the Heat Map shown.”
“In the future, it is recommended that a buffer be added to the York City Boundary. As it stands, residents on the very edge of the city could have access to healthy or unhealthy food options but those are not listed in this analysis. This research provides a very close-up look at York City in a vacuum and further research should broaden the scope.”
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