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Retail Wastelands: Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts

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  • Dutko, Paula
  • Ver Ploeg, Michele
  • Farrigan, Tracey L.

Abstract

Applying a census tract-level definition of food deserts, areas with limited access to affordable and healthy food, ERS has identified over 6,500 food desert tracts in the U.S. based on data from the 2000 Census of the Population. In this report, we examine the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of these tracts to see how they differ from other tracts. We describe the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of food desert census tracts compared with all other census tracts and how these tract characteristics have changed over time. Then, using multivariate logit analysis and data from the 1990 Census and 2000 Census, we attempt to isolate which characteristics separate food desert tracts from other low-income census tracts, to help distinguish areas that are vulnerable to low access problems in the future. Descriptive results indicate that relative to all other census tracts, food desert tracts tend to have smaller populations, higher rates of abandoned or vacant homes and residents with lower levels of education, lower incomes, and lower labor force participation. Multivariate analysis indicates that census tracts with higher poverty rates are more likely to be food deserts than otherwise similar low-income census tracts in rural and in very dense urban areas. For less dense urban areas, census tracts with higher concentrations of minority populations are more likely to be food deserts, while tracts with substantial decreases in minority populations between 1990 and 2000 were less likely to be food deserts in 2000.

Suggested Citation

  • Dutko, Paula & Ver Ploeg, Michele & Farrigan, Tracey L., 2012. "Retail Wastelands: Characteristics and Influential Factors of Food Deserts," 2012 AAEA/EAAE Food Environment Symposium 123201, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaeafe:123201
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.123201
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    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Qi & Saitone, Tina L. & Sexton, Richard J., 2017. "Food Access, Food Deserts, and the Women, Infants, and Children Program," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 42(3), September.
    2. Lauren Chenarides & Edward C. Jaenicke, 2019. "Documenting the Link Between Poor Food Access and Less Healthy Product Assortment Across the U.S," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 434-474, September.
    3. Holt, Stephen B & Vinopal, Katie M., 2021. "It's About Time: Examining Inequality in the Time Cost of Waiting," SocArXiv jbk3x, Center for Open Science.
    4. Ver Ploeg, Michele & Dutko, Paula & Snyder, Samantha D. & Kaufman, Phillip R. & Breneman, Vincent E. & Williams, Ryan Blake & Dicken, Chris, 2012. "Enhanced Data and Methods for Estimating Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food for Population Characteristics," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124703, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Meilin Ma & Tina L. Saitone & Richard J. Volpe & Richard J. Sexton & Michelle Saksena, 2019. "Market Concentration, Market Shares, and Retail Food Prices: Evidence from the U.S. Women, Infants, and Children Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 542-562, September.
    6. Meilin Ma & Tina L Saitone & Richard J Volpe & Richard J Sexton & Michelle Saksena & Craig GundersenEditor, 2019. "Market Concentration, Market Shares, and Retail Food Prices: Evidence from the U.S. Women, Infants, and Children Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 542-562.
    7. Esteve G. Giraud & Sara El-Sayed & Adenike Opejin, 2021. "Gardening for Food Well-Being in the COVID-19 Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, August.
    8. Evan Weissman & Jonnell Robinson & William Cecio, 2020. "The promise and pitfalls of mobile markets: an exploratory survey of mobile food retailers in the United States and Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 895-906, September.
    9. Chelsea R. Singleton & Yu Li & Ana Clara Duran & Shannon N. Zenk & Angela Odoms-Young & Lisa M. Powell, 2017. "Food and Beverage Availability in Small Food Stores Located in Healthy Food Financing Initiative Eligible Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-12, October.
    10. Shima Hamidi, 2020. "Urban sprawl and the emergence of food deserts in the USA," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(8), pages 1660-1675, June.
    11. Jessica M. Phelan & Richard R. Rosenkranz & Connor J. Phelan & Sara K. Rosenkranz, 2023. "Holistic Framework to Contextualize Dietary Quality Assessment: A Critical Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    12. Jackson, Dylan B. & Newsome, Jamie & Vaughn, Michael G. & Johnson, Kecia R., 2018. "Considering the role of food insecurity in low self-control and early delinquency," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 127-139.
    13. Zeng, Di & Thomsen, Michael R. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. Jr., 2015. "Food Desert and Weight Outcome: Disentangling Confounding Mechanisms," 2016 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 3-5, 2016, San Francisco, California 212813, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Metin Çakır & Xiangwen Kong & Clare Cho & Alexander Stevens, 2020. "Rural Food Retailing and Independent Grocery Retailer Exits," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1352-1367, October.
    15. Steele, Marie E. & Weatherspoon, Dave D., 2017. "A Theoretical Approach to Supermarket Chain Investment in Urban Food Deserts," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258202, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    Keywords

    Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety;

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