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Year Awarded: 2008
Project Leaders:
Philip Howard, Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies, Susan Cocciarelli, Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies, Richard Groop, Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies, Michael Hamm, Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies and Crop & Soil Sciences, Sarah Nicholls, Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies, Anne Scott, Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies, Joanne Davidhizar, Berrian County MSU Extension, Lisa Hale, South Side Community Coalition
Project Description:
Rates of obesity and other health conditions associated with food intake have increased in recent decades. These outcomes are more prevalent in low income and minority ethnic populations and access to food is hypothesized to contribute to these health disparities. Preliminary research indicates one potential contributor to this problem is inadequate access to affordable, nutritious food. Research on disparities in food access is just beginning, and suffers from a number of limitations. We propose to address many of these limitations with a study of retail density in eight urban areas in Michigan, including more detailed analysis of food variety and prices within retail outlets in two of these urban communities. We will test the hypothesis that census blocks with more low income and African-American residents are more likely to experience lower retail densities, less variety and higher prices than blocks with more affluent and non-Hispanic white residents. The findings are expected to provide a foundation for further work exploring the associations between food access and health outcomes. They are also expected to assist community organizations to prioritize efforts to improve access to affordable, nutritious foods, such as the development of youth farm stands to sell fresh, local produce.
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