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Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study
OBJECTIVES: The retail food environment can contribute to high rates of obesity, especially in low-income rural areas. The objectives of this work were to 1) explore food access for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in a high-obesity rural county, and 2) create an education...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Oxford University Press
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9193918/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac051.034 |
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author | Jarvandi, Soghra Szmutko, Alexandra |
author_facet | Jarvandi, Soghra Szmutko, Alexandra |
author_sort | Jarvandi, Soghra |
collection | PubMed |
description | OBJECTIVES: The retail food environment can contribute to high rates of obesity, especially in low-income rural areas. The objectives of this work were to 1) explore food access for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in a high-obesity rural county, and 2) create an educational resource for the county's SNAP recipients to both understand their retail food environment and locate healthy food options covered by SNAP benefits. METHODS: We first identified all SNAP-authorized retailers in the county, using the United States Department of Agriculture data source. Later, we identified the locations of retailers, using Google Maps. We verified these data with our on-the-ground team members in the county. We then separated out the list into retailers that sell fresh produce and those that do not. Using this information, we utilized ArcGIS Online to create an interactive map of county food resources, identifying which retailers sell fresh produce. We also mapped relevant sociodemographic factors (race, income, and vehicle access) by census tract, to assess within-county differences. RESULTS: Our interactive GIS map provided a visualization of the county's retail food environment and relevant sociodemographics. Median income in each census tract ranged from $34,388 to $44,688, well below the national average of $69,560. The racial composition of the county was mixed, with percentage black ranging from 8% to 51.1%. Vehicle access was low in central areas of the county, where roughly 10% of households lack access to a vehicle. In this fairly large county, with 670 square miles of area, we identified 25 stores that accept SNAP benefits (about 30% of the total retailers). Of these 25 stores, only 5 sell fresh produce. Access to these retailers, particularly those which sell fresh produce, is limited for most residents. Some residents of the county have to travel upwards of 20 miles to reach a store that both accepts SNAP and sells fresh produce. CONCLUSIONS: Our illustration of factors limiting food access can inform community development projects by identifying areas of need in the county. Also, our publicly available interactive map can educate residents about available food resources in their county. FUNDING SOURCES: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9193918 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Oxford University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-91939182022-06-14 Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study Jarvandi, Soghra Szmutko, Alexandra Curr Dev Nutr Community and Public Health Nutrition OBJECTIVES: The retail food environment can contribute to high rates of obesity, especially in low-income rural areas. The objectives of this work were to 1) explore food access for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in a high-obesity rural county, and 2) create an educational resource for the county's SNAP recipients to both understand their retail food environment and locate healthy food options covered by SNAP benefits. METHODS: We first identified all SNAP-authorized retailers in the county, using the United States Department of Agriculture data source. Later, we identified the locations of retailers, using Google Maps. We verified these data with our on-the-ground team members in the county. We then separated out the list into retailers that sell fresh produce and those that do not. Using this information, we utilized ArcGIS Online to create an interactive map of county food resources, identifying which retailers sell fresh produce. We also mapped relevant sociodemographic factors (race, income, and vehicle access) by census tract, to assess within-county differences. RESULTS: Our interactive GIS map provided a visualization of the county's retail food environment and relevant sociodemographics. Median income in each census tract ranged from $34,388 to $44,688, well below the national average of $69,560. The racial composition of the county was mixed, with percentage black ranging from 8% to 51.1%. Vehicle access was low in central areas of the county, where roughly 10% of households lack access to a vehicle. In this fairly large county, with 670 square miles of area, we identified 25 stores that accept SNAP benefits (about 30% of the total retailers). Of these 25 stores, only 5 sell fresh produce. Access to these retailers, particularly those which sell fresh produce, is limited for most residents. Some residents of the county have to travel upwards of 20 miles to reach a store that both accepts SNAP and sells fresh produce. CONCLUSIONS: Our illustration of factors limiting food access can inform community development projects by identifying areas of need in the county. Also, our publicly available interactive map can educate residents about available food resources in their county. FUNDING SOURCES: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Oxford University Press 2022-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC9193918/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac051.034 Text en © The Author 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com |
spellingShingle | Community and Public Health Nutrition Jarvandi, Soghra Szmutko, Alexandra Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study |
title | Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study |
title_full | Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study |
title_fullStr | Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study |
title_short | Retail Food Environment for SNAP Recipients in Rural Tennessee: A Case Study |
title_sort | retail food environment for snap recipients in rural tennessee: a case study |
topic | Community and Public Health Nutrition |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9193918/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac051.034 |
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