Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Cost and Quality Among Racially Segregated Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York

Abstract

The increasing rate of obesity in America has raised concerns about the availability of nutritional foods. Studies that address food cost and quality are limited; therefore, these analyses attempt to document differences in cost and quality of produce in economically diverse areas of Brooklyn, New York. Although prices were consistently lower in low-income areas and no consistent trends emerged regarding quality, limited produce availability in predominantly black neighborhoods significantly hampered results. Cost and quality were factors found to be indivisibly linked to store type and produce availability. Further studies must assess all of these factors in tandem for a comprehensive portrait of local food environments.

KEYWORDS:

• local food environment
• cost
• quality
• racial disparities

The authors are grateful for the support of their work by the National Institute of Aging (R03 AG022726) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R25 ES 014315).