IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v32y2015i2p215-227.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bringing food desert residents to an alternative food market: a semi-experimental study of impediments to food access

Author

Listed:
  • Yuki Kato
  • Laura McKinney

Abstract

The emerging critique of alternative food networks (AFNs) points to several factors that could impede the participation of low-income, minority communities in the movement, namely, spatial and temporal constraints, and the lack of economic, cultural, and human capital. Based on a semi-experimental study that offers 6 weeks of free produce to 31 low-income African American households located in a New Orleans food desert, this article empirically examines the significance of the impeding factors identified by previous scholarship, through participant surveys before, during, and after the program. Our results suggest economic constraints are more influential in determining where the participants shop for food than spatial and temporal constraints, and the study participants exhibit high levels of human and cultural capital regarding the purchase and consumption of locally grown produce. We also find them undeterred by the market’s predominantly White, middle-class cultural social space, which leads us to question the extent to which cultural exclusivity discourages their participation in AFNs. For all five factors we find that the constraints posed to accessing the local food market were not universal but varied among the participants. Finally, the study reveals some localized social constraints, fragmented social ties in particular, as a possible structural hurdle to engaging these residents in the alternative market in their neighborhood. Conclusions point to the need for a multi-dimensional and dynamic conceptualization of “food access.” Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Yuki Kato & Laura McKinney, 2015. "Bringing food desert residents to an alternative food market: a semi-experimental study of impediments to food access," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 215-227, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:32:y:2015:i:2:p:215-227
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-014-9541-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10460-014-9541-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-014-9541-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patricia Allen, 2008. "Mining for justice in the food system: perceptions, practices, and possibilities," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(2), pages 157-161, June.
    2. Alison Alkon & Teresa Mares, 2012. "Food sovereignty in US food movements: radical visions and neoliberal constraints," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(3), pages 347-359, September.
    3. Neil Wrigley, 2002. "'Food Deserts' in British Cities: Policy Context and Research Priorities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(11), pages 2029-2040, October.
    4. Patricia Allen, 2010. "Realizing justice in local food systems," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(2), pages 295-308.
    5. Josée Johnston & Lauren Baker, 2005. "Eating Outside the Box: FoodShare’s Good Food Box and the Challenge of Scale," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(3), pages 313-325, September.
    6. Patricia Allen & Julie Guthman, 2006. "From “old school” to “farm-to-school”: Neoliberalization from the ground up," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(4), pages 401-415, December.
    7. Amanda Whelan & Neil Wrigley & Daniel Warm & Elizabeth Cannings, 2002. "Life in a 'Food Desert'," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(11), pages 2083-2100, October.
    8. Stewart Lockie, 2009. "Responsibility and agency within alternative food networks: assembling the “citizen consumer”," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 26(3), pages 193-201, September.
    9. Candace Young & Allison Karpyn & Nicky Uy & Katy Wich & Jonathan Glyn, 2011. "Farmers' markets in low income communities: impact of community environment, food programs and public policy," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 208-220, April.
    10. David Gladstone & Jolie Préau, 2008. "Gentrification in tourist cities: Evidence from New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 137-175, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ronaldo Tavares Souza, 2020. "Box-scheme as alternative food network—the economic integration between consumers and producers," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-25, December.
    2. repec:ags:aaea22:335799 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Leng, Ganxiao & Filipski, Mateusz J. & Qiu, Huanguang, 2022. "Impacts of City Life on Nutrition: Evidence from Resettlement Lotteries in China," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322130, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Sonja Kaufmann & Nikolaus Hruschka & Luis Vildozo & Christian R. Vogl, 2023. "Alternative Food Networks in Latin America—exploring PGS (Participatory Guarantee Systems) markets and their consumers: a cross-country comparison," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 193-216, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    2. Kelly J. Hodgins & Evan D. G. Fraser, 2018. ""We are a business, not a social service agency." Barriers to widening access for low-income shoppers in alternative food market spaces," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 149-162, March.
    3. Melissa N. Poulsen, 2017. "Cultivating citizenship, equity, and social inclusion? Putting civic agriculture into practice through urban farming," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 135-148, March.
    4. Diego Thompson, 2021. "Building and transforming collective agency and collective identity to address Latinx farmworkers’ needs and challenges in rural Vermont," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(1), pages 129-143, February.
    5. Zhenzhong Si & Theresa Schumilas & Steffanie Scott, 2015. "Characterizing alternative food networks in China," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 299-313, June.
    6. David McIvor & James Hale, 2015. "Urban agriculture and the prospects for deep democracy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 727-741, December.
    7. Kathryn Teigen De Master & Jess Daniels, 2019. "Desert wonderings: reimagining food access mapping," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(2), pages 241-256, June.
    8. Neil Wrigley & Daniel Warm & Barrie Margetts & Amanda Whelan, 2002. "Assessing the Impact of Improved Retail Access on Diet in a 'Food Desert': A Preliminary Report," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(11), pages 2061-2082, October.
    9. Adam Czudec, 2022. "The Altruistic Behaviour of Consumers Who Prefer a Local Origin of Organic Food," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, April.
    10. Mark LeClair & Anna-Maria Aksan, 2014. "Redefining the food desert: combining GIS with direct observation to measure food access," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 31(4), pages 537-547, December.
    11. Julia M. L. Laforge & Colin R. Anderson & Stéphane M. McLachlan, 2017. "Governments, grassroots, and the struggle for local food systems: containing, coopting, contesting and collaborating," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(3), pages 663-681, September.
    12. Joshua Sbicca, 2015. "Food labor, economic inequality, and the imperfect politics of process in the alternative food movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(4), pages 675-687, December.
    13. Nathan Clay & Alexandra E. Sexton & Tara Garnett & Jamie Lorimer, 2020. "Palatable disruption: the politics of plant milk," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 945-962, December.
    14. Poppy Nicol, 2020. "Pathways to Scaling Agroecology in the City Region: Scaling out, Scaling up and Scaling deep through Community-Led Trade," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-20, September.
    15. Marina Masso & Christos Zografos, 2015. "Constructing food sovereignty in Catalonia: different narratives for transformative action," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 32(2), pages 183-198, June.
    16. Joshua Sbicca, 2012. "Growing food justice by planting an anti-oppression foundation: opportunities and obstacles for a budding social movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(4), pages 455-466, December.
    17. Catherine Brinkley & Gwyneth M. Manser & Sasha Pesci, 2021. "Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 911-927, December.
    18. Alana Siegner & Jennifer Sowerwine & Charisma Acey, 2018. "Does Urban Agriculture Improve Food Security? Examining the Nexus of Food Access and Distribution of Urban Produced Foods in the United States: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-27, August.
    19. Sarah Riggs Stapleton, 2019. "Parent activists versus the corporation: a fight for school food sovereignty," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 805-817, December.
    20. Ryan Galt & Damian Parr & Julia Van Soelen Kim & Jessica Beckett & Maggie Lickter & Heidi Ballard, 2013. "Transformative food systems education in a land-grant college of agriculture: the importance of learner-centered inquiries," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(1), pages 129-142, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:32:y:2015:i:2:p:215-227. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.