Food insecurity is a leading public health challenge in the United States. In Columbus, Ohio, as in many American cities, there exists a great disparity between Black and White households in relation to food insecurity. This study investigates the degree to which this gap can be attributed to differences in food shopping behavior, neighborhood perception, and socioeconomic characteristics. A Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method is used to analyze a household survey dataset collected in 2014. We find a 34.2 percent point difference in food security between White and Black households. Variables related to food shopping behavior, neighborhood perception, and socioeconomic characteristics explain 13.8 percent, 11.6 percent, and 63.1 percent of the difference, respectively. These independent variables combined can explain 68.2 percent of the food security gap between White and Black households. Most of this is attributable to socioeconomic variables. Sense of friendship in neighborhood, use of private vehicles, and satisfaction of neighborhood food environment also partially contribute to the food security gap.

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In this commentary we very briefly highlight farming-and land-related historical injustices impacting African Americans, and outline useful ways for racially diverse food justice organizations, activists, and academics to collaborate on placebased interventions in an equitable and inclusive way. Place-based strategies to address inequity in the food system must begin with an equitable and inclusive environment within which residents can engage in developing solutions. Equitable and inclusive civic engagement can build capacity, trust, and empowerment in marginalized communities, creating an environment where communities can enact transformative local food system change using their own resources. Transformative change is change that occurs at the very core of ourselves as individuals and in our communities. Such change requires us to reexamine our long-standing customs, assumptions,

Between 2000 and 2013, the suburbs in the country’s largest metro areas saw their low-income population grow twice as fast as primary urban cities. In 2018, the Pew Research Center reported that poverty increased more sharply in suburbs than in urban and rural counties (Parker et al., 2018). The rise in suburban poverty coincides with an increasing prevalence of food insecurity. The social and physical environments of suburban communities pose unique food-related challenges for the suburban poor. Awareness and stigmatization of food assistance programs, lack of transportation options, access to food pantries, and limited community gardens are examples of challenges that many families face. With a growing suburban population facing poverty and food insecurity, Extension is positioned to address the complex problem of suburban food insecurity through community-engaged research and education involving the areas of family and consumer sciences, community development, agriculture and natural resources, and 4-H youth development.

Various mapping methodologies have been used to explore complex social, economic, and environmental components of the food system. Planning scholars, geographers, public health officials, and community organizations have created maps to better understand disparities in the food environment. This review provides an analysis of the nature of geographic information systems mapping in scholarly research and web-based food mapping since 2008. Our review of thirty-four journal articles and seventy web-mapping projects covers the purpose, study area, topics, methods, and application of food mapping research and initiatives. Scholars and community stakeholders will benefit from this review of methodologies to inform their research and policy initiatives.