TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterizing Rural Food Access in Remote Areas
AU - Bardenhagen, Chris J.
AU - Pinard, Courtney A.
AU - Pirog, Rich
AU - Yaroch, Amy Lazarus
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) at Michigan State University. We would like to acknowledge the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition for its partnership in this study, and Shane Solar Doherty, 2015 Summer Intern for CRFS for his contributions.
Funding Information:
Funding in part for this research is from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - Residents of rural areas may have limited access to healthy foods, leading to higher incidence of diet related health issues. Smaller grocers in rural areas experience challenges in maintaining fresh produce and other healthy foods available for customers. This study assessed the rural food environment in northeast Lower Michigan in order to inform healthy food financing projects such as the Michigan Good Food Fund. The area’s retail food businesses were categorized using secondary licensing, business, and nutrition program databases. Twenty of these stores were visited in person to verify the validity of the categories created, and to assess the availability of healthy foods in their aisles. In-depth interviews with key informants were carried out with store owners, economic development personnel, and other food system stakeholders having knowledge about food access, in order to learn more about the specific challenges that the area faces. Out-shopping, seasonality, and economic challenges were found to affect healthy food availability. Mid-sized independent stores were generally found to have a larger selection of healthy foods, but smaller rural groceries also have potential to provide fresh produce and increase food access. Potential healthy food financing projects are described and areas in need of further research are identified.
AB - Residents of rural areas may have limited access to healthy foods, leading to higher incidence of diet related health issues. Smaller grocers in rural areas experience challenges in maintaining fresh produce and other healthy foods available for customers. This study assessed the rural food environment in northeast Lower Michigan in order to inform healthy food financing projects such as the Michigan Good Food Fund. The area’s retail food businesses were categorized using secondary licensing, business, and nutrition program databases. Twenty of these stores were visited in person to verify the validity of the categories created, and to assess the availability of healthy foods in their aisles. In-depth interviews with key informants were carried out with store owners, economic development personnel, and other food system stakeholders having knowledge about food access, in order to learn more about the specific challenges that the area faces. Out-shopping, seasonality, and economic challenges were found to affect healthy food availability. Mid-sized independent stores were generally found to have a larger selection of healthy foods, but smaller rural groceries also have potential to provide fresh produce and increase food access. Potential healthy food financing projects are described and areas in need of further research are identified.
KW - Food environment
KW - Healthy food availability
KW - Outshopping
KW - Rural food access
KW - Rural grocery
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U2 - 10.1007/s10900-017-0348-1
DO - 10.1007/s10900-017-0348-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 28417434
AN - SCOPUS:85017500929
SN - 0094-5145
VL - 42
SP - 1008
EP - 1019
JO - Journal of Community Health
JF - Journal of Community Health
IS - 5
ER -