Access to Healthful Food Resources in San Jose, California
There is a growing interest in developing and implementing federal and local policies related to production and distribution of healthful and affordable food for an urban environment. For example, the cities of Seattle, Washington, and Madison, Wisconsin; and the county of Marin, California, are three examples of jurisdictions that apply food system planning policies to encourage farmers’ markets and community gardens as a section of the food provision system.[1] One main reason is that urban residents who have limited access to healthful food resources have less healthful eating habits and are at greater risk of obesity, diabetes, and other diet-related illnesses.[2] Researchers disagree as to whether a direct correlation exists between access to healthful food resources and their consumption. However, the existing literature reports an increase in healthful eating when access barriers to fresh and affordable food are removed.[3] In order to increase the provision of healthful food and target the actual food-deprived neighborhoods, planners must first find the data sets that characterize the issue and use the appropriate analytical tools. This project examines the strengths and weaknesses of geographical information system (GIS) software in evaluating the availability and accessibility of food resources that are healthful, affordable, and culturally accepted by San Jose residents.
[1] Samina Raja, Changxing Ma, and Pavan Yadov, “Beyond Food Deserts: Measuring and Mapping Racial
Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments,” Journal of Planning Education and Research 27, no. 4 (2008): 23.
[2] Lucius F. Hallett and Dave McDermott, "Quantifying the Extent and Cost of Food Deserts in Lawrence, Kansas, USA," Applied Geography 31, no. 4 (2011): 1211.
[3] Neil Wrigley, Daniel Warm, and Barrie Margetts, "Deprivation, Diet, and Food-Retail Access: Findings from the Leeds ‘Food Deserts’ Study," Environment & Planning A 35, no. 1 (2003): 151-188.
[1] Samina Raja, Changxing Ma, and Pavan Yadov, “Beyond Food Deserts: Measuring and Mapping Racial
Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments,” Journal of Planning Education and Research 27, no. 4 (2008): 23.
[2] Lucius F. Hallett and Dave McDermott, "Quantifying the Extent and Cost of Food Deserts in Lawrence, Kansas, USA," Applied Geography 31, no. 4 (2011): 1211.
[3] Neil Wrigley, Daniel Warm, and Barrie Margetts, "Deprivation, Diet, and Food-Retail Access: Findings from the Leeds ‘Food Deserts’ Study," Environment & Planning A 35, no. 1 (2003): 151-188.
