Transit Access to Subsidized Food Stores in the U.S. Midwest

Abstract

In the United States, low-income individuals and some racial and ethnic minorities have higher rates of transit use and food insecurity. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides low-income households with money for groceries at authorized retailers, creates a unique food procurement environment for participants. In this article, transit networks’ effect on access to SNAP retailers is assessed by calculating transit travel times to all transitable SNAP stores of census block groups (CBGs) in thirty-three metropolitan areas in the U.S. Midwest. Low transit access CBGs are identified and compared to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) low-income, low-access (LILA) census tracts. Store type transit access ratios are analyzed to further specify disproportionate access to healthy food retailers. Findings indicate low transit access is experienced in fringe-urban, majority white, car-dependent CBGs. Approximately 24,380 people receiving public assistance, 145,636 Black people, 135,731 non-Black Hispanic people, and 108,325 low-income people live within these CBGs, however. The USDA’s LILA census tracts are more expansive than this study’s low-income, low-transit-access (LILTA) tracts. Despite being classified as rural, LILTA-only tracts had sixty-eight households without a vehicle, on average. Future research and policy should engage populations in suburban and exurban regions to accommodate transportation needs of a nonnegligible portion of potentially food-insecure households.

在美国, 低收入、部分少数种族和少数民族群体使用公共交通、缺乏食品保障的比率较高。美国的补充营养援助计划（Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP）, 为低收入家庭提供了在授权零售商购买食品的资助, 给SNAP参加者创造了独特的食品采购环境。针对美国中西部33个大都市人口普查街区组（Census Block Group, CBG）, 本文计算了公交可及SNAP商店的出行时间, 评估了公交网络对到达SNAP零售商的影响。确定了公交可及性低的CBG, 并将其与美国农业部（USDA）的低收入和低可及性（LILA）人口普查区进行比较。本文分析了不同类型商店的公交访问比率, 进一步确定了对健康食品零售商的不成比例的访问。调查结果表明, 在边缘城市、白人占多数、依赖汽车的CBG, 其交通可及性较低。然而, 这些CBG约有24,380名公共援助接受者、145,636名黑人、135,731名非黑人西裔和108,325名低收入者。美国农业部定义的LILA普查区, 在范围上大于本文的低收入和低公交可及性（LILTA）区域。尽管LILTA地区被归类为农村, 但是平均68户家庭没有汽车。未来的研究和政策应考虑郊区和非城市人群, 以满足那些潜在缺乏食品家庭不可忽视的交通需求。

Las personas de bajos ingresos y algunas minorías raciales y étnicas de los Estados Unidos registran los índices más altos de uso del tránsito y de inseguridad alimentaria. El Programa Suplementario de Asistencia Nutricional (SNAP), que entrega dinero a los hogares de bajos ingresos para comprar alimentos en comercios minoristas autorizados, crea un entorno único para la adquisición de alimentos para los participantes. En este artículo, se evalúa el efecto de las redes de tránsito en el acceso a los comercios minoristas del SNAP, por medio del cálculo de los tiempos de viaje en tránsito a todas las tiendas del SNAP de los grupos por manzanas censales (CBGs), en 33 áreas metropolitanas del Medio Oeste americano. Se identificaron los CBGs con bajo acceso al tránsito para ser comparados con los tractos censales de bajos ingresos y bajo acceso (LILA) del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA). Se analizaron los ratios de acceso al tránsito del tipo de tiendas para una mayor especificación del acceso desproporcionado a los minoristas de alimentos saludables. Los resultados indican un bajo acceso al tránsito en los CBGs de la periferia urbana de mayoría blanca y dependiente del carro. Sin embargo, dentro de estos CBGs residen aproximadamente 24.380 personas que reciben asistencia pública, 145.636 personas negras, 135.731 personas hispanas no negras y 108.325 personas de bajos ingresos. Los tractos censales LILA del USDA son más amplios que los tractos de bajos ingresos y bajo acceso al tránsito (LILTA) del presente estudio. A pesar de estar clasificados como rurales, los tractos de solo LILTA tenían 68 hogares sin vehículo, en promedio. La investigación y la política futuras deberían involucrar poblaciones de las regiones suburbanas y exurbanas para satisfacer las necesidades de transporte de una porción no despreciable de hogares potencialmente inseguros en lo que a alimentación se refiere.

Key Words:

• food environments
• food insecurity
• SNAP
• transit access
• transport poverty

关键词:

• 食品环境
• 食品缺乏
• SNAP
• 公交可及性
• 交通贫困。

Palabras clave:

• acceso al transporte
• entornos alimentarios
• inseguridad alimentaria
• pobreza de transporte
• SNAP

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Drs. Dionne Gesink and Steven Farber for their input on an earlier version of this study. We would also like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their guidance.

All data used in this manuscript are available online for public use. The following table details the data used.

Notes

1 Low-income census tracts meet at least one of the following conditions: (1) Poverty rate is 20 percent or greater; (2) median family income is less than or equal to 80 percent of the state-wide median family income; and/or (3) is in a metropolitan area and has a median family income less than or equal to 80 percent of the metropolitan area’s median family income.

2 Individuals who identified as Black and Hispanic on the census were classified as Black to avoid double-counting individuals in population totals. Hispanic will be used hereafter for simplicity.

3 The Census Bureau considers a census tract urban if the geographic centroid of the tract is in an area with more than 2,500 people.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amber D. DeJohn

AMBER D. DeJOHN is a PhD Candidate in Human Geography, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. She studies geographies of socializing and health, especially in later life, with a focus on technology adoption and mobility.

Michael J. Widener

MICHAEL J. WIDENER is the Canada Research Chair in Transportation and Health and an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. His work investigates issues relating to health, transportation, and urban geography.

Jerry Shannon

JERRY SHANNON in an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. E-mail: [email protected]. His research investigates how to make urban neighborhoods and food systems healthier and more equitable.