Data-Driven Food Desert Metric to Understand Access to Grocery Stores Using Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detector Decision Tree Analysis

Abstract

A food desert is a geographic area lacking spatial and socioeconomic access to healthy foods. Disparities in food access and availability hinder public health and individual wellbeing. Access to healthy food has been evaluated by many agencies and researches yet they do not comparably demarcate food deserts or identify vulnerable populations in methodical terms. Existing literature suggests a link between food deserts, income level, and vehicle ownership. This study evaluates the existing methods and proposes a novel data-driven method to identify food deserts in Baltimore, Maryland. This study evaluates responses from 573 respondents for an in-depth analysis of individual grocery store choice and travel decisions. Chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID) decision trees are used to develop a user-generated food desert metric. Income level is found to be a key indicator for food desert demarcation, more than vehicle ownership. Network distance was applied to develop the prioritization matrix for a food desert. This research provides a replicable method for determining food-insecure areas in a locality by aggregating individual data to identify such areas. Such a metric can aid policymakers to make investment decisions and to direct resources to areas of need.

Keywords

data and data science geographic information science geographic information systems visualization in transportation geospatial data visualization sustainability and resilience transportation and society community resources and impacts transportation equity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Battersby

Hungry Cities: A Critical Review of Urban Food Security Research in Sub-Saharan African Cities: Food in Sub-Saharan African Cities. Geography Compass, Vol. 7, No. 7, 2013, pp. 452–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12053.

Food and Agriculture Organization. Rome Declaration on World Food Security. FAO, 1996. http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.htm.

Apparicio

Cloutier

M.-S.

Shearmur

The Case of Montréal’s Missing Food Deserts: Evaluation of Accessibility to Food Supermarkets. International Journal of Health Geographics, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2007, p. 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-6-4.

Bader

M. D. M.

Purciel

Yousefzadeh

Neckerman

K. M.

Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments: Implications of Measurement Strategies. Economic Geography, Vol. 86, No. 4, 2010, pp. 409–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2010.01084.x.

Caspi

C. E.

Sorensen

Subramanian

Kawachi

The Local Food Environment and Diet: A Systematic Review. Health & Place, Vol. 18, No. 5, 2012, pp. 1172–1187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.05.006.

Taylor

E. J.

Fast Food Planning Conﬂicts in Victoria 1969–2012: Is Every Unhappy Family Restaurant Unhappy in its Own Way?

Australian Planner, Vol. 52, No. 2, 2015, pp. 114–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2014.950677.

Yeager

C. D.

Gatrell

J. D.

Rural Food Accessibility: An Analysis of Travel Impedance and the Risk of Potential Grocery Closures. Applied Geography, Vol. 53, 2014, pp. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.05.018.

Zhang

Yao

Bai

Xiong

Transnational Practices in Urban China: Spatiality and Localization of Western Fast Food Chains. Habitat International, Vol. 43, 2014, pp. 22–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.01.003.

Kent

J. L.

Thompson

The Three Domains of Urban Planning for Health and Well-Being. Journal of Planning Literature, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2014, pp. 239–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412214520712.

10.

Smoyer-Tomic

K. E.

Spence

J. C.

Amrhein

Food Deserts in the Prairies? Supermarket Accessibility and Neighborhood Need in Edmonton, Canada. The Professional Geographer, Vol. 58, No. 3, 2006, pp. 307–326. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9272.2006.00570.x.

11.

Preston

Raj

F.é

. Accessibility, Mobility and Transport-Related Social Exclusion. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 15, No. 3, 2007, pp. 151–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2006.05.002.

12.

Widener

M. J.

Farber

Neutens

Horner

M. W.

Using Urban Commuting Data to Calculate a Spatiotemporal Accessibility Measure for Food Environment Studies. Health & Place, Vol. 21, 2013, pp. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.01.004.

13.

Buczynski

Freishtat

Buzogany

Mapping Baltimore City’s Food Environment. Tech. Report. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), Baltimore, MD, 2015. https://clf.jhsph.edu/publications/mapping-baltimore-citys-food-environment.

14.

Winne

Food Town, USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That Are Changing the Way We Eat. Island Press, Washington, D.C., 2019.

15.

USDA ERS. Food Access Research Atlas. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/.

16.

Dutko

Ver Ploeg

Farrigan

Characteristics and Inﬂuential Factors of Food Deserts. Economic Research Report 140. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 2012. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.262229.

17.

Walker

R. E.

Keane

C. R.

Burke

J. G.

Disparities and Access to Healthy Food in the United States: A Review of Food Deserts Literature. Health & Place, Vol. 16, No. 5, 2010, pp. 876–884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.04.013.

18.

Kaufman

P. R.

MacDonald

J. M.

Lutz

S. M.

Smallwood

D. M.

Do the Poor Pay More for Food? Item Selection and Price Differences Affect Low-Income Household Food Costs. Tech. Report. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, D.C., 1997.

19.

Kerr

Frank

Sallis

J. F.

Saelens

Glanz

Chapman

Predictors of Trips to Food Destinations. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2012, p. 58.

20.

Blanchard

T. C.

Matthews

T. L.

Retail Concentration, Food Deserts, and Food-Disadvantaged Communities in Rural America. In Remaking the North American Food System: Strategies for Sustainability ( Hinrichs

C. C.

Lyson

T. A.

, eds.), University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2007, pp. 201–215.

21.

Galvez

M. P.

Hong

Choi

Liao

Godbold

Brenner

Childhood Obesity and Neighborhood Food-Store Availability in an Inner-City Community. Academic Pediatrics, Vol. 9, No. 5, 2009, pp. 339–343.

22.

Coveney

O’Dwyer

Scoping Supermarket Availability and Accessibility by Socioeconomic Status in Adelaide. Health Promotion Journal of Australia: Ofﬁcial Journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2006, p. 240.

23.

Weinberg

. No Place to Shop: The Lack of Supermarkets in Low-Income Neighborhoods: Analysis of a University of Connecticut Study on Low-Income Communitites and Households Receiving Public Assistance in 21 Metropolitan Areas. Public Voice for Food and Health Policy, Washington, D.C., 1995.

24.

Rose

Bodor

J. N.

Swalm

C. M.

Rice

J. C.

Farley

T. A.

Hutchinson

P. L.

Deserts in New Orleans? Illustrations of Urban Food Access and Implications for Policy. University of Michigan National Poverty Center/USDA Economic Research Service Research, Ann Arbor, 2009.

25.

Bertrand

Thérien

Cloutier

M.-S.

Measuring and Mapping Disparities in Access to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Montréal. Canadian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 99, No. 1, 2008, pp. 6–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403732.

26.

Algert

S. J.

Agrawal

Lewis

D. S.

Disparities in Access to Fresh Produce in Low-Income Neighborhoods in Los Angeles. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 30, No. 5, 2006, pp. 365–370.

27.

Larsen

Gilliland

Mapping the Evolution of “Food Deserts” in a Canadian City: Supermarket Accessibility in London, Ontario, 1961–2005. International Journal of Health Geographics, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2008, p. 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-7-16.

28.

Pearson

Russell

Campbell

M. J.

Barker

M. E.

Do “Food Deserts” Inﬂuence Fruit and Vegetable Consumption?—A Cross-Sectional Study. Appetite, Vol. 45, No. 2, 2005, pp. 195–197.

29.

Al Mamun

Lownes

N. E.

A Composite Index of Public Transit Accessibility. Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2011, p. 4.

30.

Ryus

Ausman

Teaf

Cooper

Knoblauch

Development of Florida’s Transit Level-of-Service Indicator. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2000. 1731: 123–129.

31.

Moniruzzaman

Páez

Accessibility to Transit, by Transit, and Mode Share: Application of a Logistic Model With Spatial Filters. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 24, 2012, pp. 198–205.

32.

Lei

T. L.

Church

R. L.

Mapping Transit-Based Access: Integrating GIS, Routes and Schedules. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2010, pp. 283–304.

33.

O’Sullivan

Morrison

Shearer

Using Desktop GIS for the Investigation of Accessibility by Public Transport: An Isochrone Approach. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2000, pp. 85–104.

34.

Widener

M. J.

Minaker

Farber

Allen

Vitali

Coleman

P. C.

Cook

How Do Changes in the Daily Food and Transportation Environments Affect Grocery Store Accessibility?

Applied Geography, Vol. 83, 2017, pp. 46–62.

35.

Widener

M. J.

Farber

Neutens

Horner

Spatiotemporal Accessibility to Supermarkets Using Public Transit: An Interaction Potential Approach in Cincinnati, Ohio. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 42, 2015, pp. 72–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.11.004.

36.

Jiao

Moudon

A. V.

Ulmer

Hurvitz

P. M.

Drewnowski

How to Identify Food Deserts: Measuring Physical and Economic Access to Supermarkets in King County, Washington. American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 102, No. 10, 2012, pp. e32–e39. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.300675.

37.

Widener

M. J.

Metcalf

S. S.

Bar-Yam

Dynamic Urban Food Environments: A Temporal Analysis of Access to Healthy Foods. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 41, No. 4, 2011, pp. 439–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2011.06.034.

38.

Ravensbergen

Buliung

Wilson

Faulkner

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Children’s Accessibility to Food Retailing: Examining the Roles of Mobility and Time. Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 153, 2016, pp. 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.030.

39.

Couzin-Frankel

Tackling America’s Eating Habits, One Store at a Time. Science, Vol. 337, No. 6101, 2012, pp. 1473–1475. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.337.6101.1473.

40.

Wehunt

The Food Desert. Chicago Magazine, 2009. http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/July-2009/The-Food-Desert/.

41.

Ver Ploeg

Breneman

Farrigan

Hamrick

Hopkins

Kaufman

Lin

B.-H.

, et al. Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences: Report to Congress. Tech. Report. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Washington, D.C., 2009.

42.

Thornton

L. E.

Crawford

Ball

Neighbourhood-Socioeconomic Variation in Women’s Diet: The Role of Nutrition Environments. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 64, No. 12, 2010, pp. 1423–1432.

43.

Salze

Banos

Oppert

J.-M.

Charreire

Casey

Simon

Chaix

Badariotti

Weber

Estimating Spatial Accessibility to Facilities on the Regional Scale: An Extended Commuting-Based Interaction Potential Model. International Journal of Health Geographics, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2011, p. 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-10-2.

44.

Clarke

Eyre

Guy

Deriving Indicators of Access to Food Retail Provision in British Cities: Studies of Cardiff, Leeds and Bradford. Urban Studies, Vol. 39, No. 11, 2002, pp. 2041–2060.

45.

Misiaszek

Baltimore City’s Food Environment Report: 2018 Report. https://clf.jhsph.edu/publications/baltimore-citys-food-environment-report-2018-report.baltimore-citys-food-environment-report-2018-report.

46.

Reinvestment Fund. Assessing Place-Based Access to Healthy Food: The Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) Analysis. Tech. Report. 2018. https://www.reinvestment.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LSA_2018_Report_web.pdf.

47.

Behrens

Simons

Harding

Milli

Baltimore City Food Swamps. Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), Baltimore, MD, 2015.

48.

Chavis

Jones

Understanding Access to Grocery Stores in Food Deserts in Baltimore City. Tech. Report. Urban Mobility and Equity Center, Baltimore, MD, 2020. https://www2.morgan.edu/Documents/ACADEMICS/CENTERS/NTC/Chavis%20Final%20Post.pdf.

49.

Chavis

Bhuyan

I. A.

Understanding Access to Grocery Stores: A Data-Driven Food Desert Metric Using CHAID Decision Tree Analysis. Number: TRBAM-21-00527. Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2021. https://trid.trb.org/view/1759980.

50.

US Census Bureau. 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Suitland, MD, 2018.

51.

Mehta

C. R.

Patel

N. R.

IBM SPSS Exact Tests. Tech. Report. IBM, Armonk, NY, 2013.

52.

IBM. IBM SPSS Decision Trees 26. IBM, Armonk, NY, 2020.

53.

Raja

Yadav

Beyond Food Deserts: Measuring and Mapping Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments. Journal of Planning Education and Research, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2008, pp. 469–482.