The Weekend Food Odyssey: Perceptions of Accessibility to Urban Food Outlets

ABSTRACT

Food acquisition patterns and perceptions remain insufficiently understood when examining the ways urban built environments impact food access. Using surveys (N = 751) and interviews (N = 14) we argue there is a fundamental mismatch between the dominant food access narrative, which assumes proximity is the most salient factor in acquisition, and lived-experiences. Results reveal individuals’ perceptions regarding food access differ based on their experiences. While close-ended responses indicated few transportation barriers, open-ended responses indicated multiple challenges in accessing food. Results highlight relationships between conceptions of distance and access. Findings have implications for measurement approaches and the need for lived-experiences to inform interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Food access
• food availability
• food environment
• measurement

Declaration Of Interest Statement

None of the authors have any disclosures.

Data Availability Statement

Data and data collection instruments available upon request to Kathryn Colasanti; Center for Regional Food Systems; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; email: [email protected]

Ethical Approval

This study was determined as exempt from full IRB review by the Michigan State University Human Research Protection Program under the title: Shared Measurement Food Access Survey Pilot (CGA# 134786) and IRB Number: x16-248e; i050731.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation under Grant number P3027021 to the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems.