The Impact of Food Deserts on Food Insufficiency and SNAP Participation among the Elderly

Abstract

Residents of neighborhoods with limited access to grocery stores may face barriers to obtaining adequate food for a healthy diet. Low‐income elderly may be uniquely affected by these so‐called “food deserts” due to limited transportation options, strong attachments to local neighborhoods, fixed incomes, and physical limitations for food shopping. Using 2006 and 2010 Health and Retirement Study data linked to census tract‐level measures of food deserts, this study measures whether living in a food desert affects food and material hardship, participation in food assistance programs, and the food spending of elderly adults. In both cross‐sectional and fixed effects regressions of elderly residents of urban counties, we find little evidence that living in a food desert affects these outcomes. We find, however, that individuals residing in a food desert without a vehicle are 12 percentage points more likely to report food insufficiency. Those SNAP recipients living in food deserts are 11 percentage points more likely to receive subsidized meals, while nonparticipants in food deserts and SNAP recipients outside of food deserts are less likely to receive subsidized meals. Our findings suggest that seniors without vehicles and SNAP recipients in food deserts may be the most vulnerable to limited food store access.

Food Store Choices of Poor Households: A Discrete Choice Analysis of the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS)

“…2 For a comprehensive review of the literature on food access and health outcomes, see Caswell and Yaktine (2013). Recent studies have found that (i) elderly residents living in food deserts who do not own a vehicle are more likely than those with a vehicle to report food insufficiency (Fitzpatrick, Greenhalgh-Stanley, and Ver Ploeg 2016); (ii) exposure to food deserts is correlated with higher body mass index scores among elementary schoolchildren (Thomsen et al 2016); and (iii) increased access to large supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores in metropolitan deserts and health outcomes, there is limited evidence supporting the assumption that improved access will alter eating patterns . In fact, Cummins, Flint, and Matthews (2014) evaluate the impact of opening a new supermarket in a food desert and find that while the intervention increased residents' awareness of food accessibility, it did not lead to changes in dietary habits over the four years of the study.…”

Bans vs. Fees: Disposable Carryout Bag Policies and Bag Usage

“…Recent studies have found that (i) elderly residents living in food deserts who do not own a vehicle are more likely than those with a vehicle to report food insufficiency (Fitzpatrick, Greenhalgh-Stanley, and Ver Ploeg 2016); (ii) exposure to food deserts is correlated with higher body mass index scores among elementary schoolchildren (Thomsen et al 2016); and (iii) increased access to large supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores in metropolitan deserts and health outcomes, there is limited evidence supporting the assumption that improved access will alter eating patterns . In fact, Cummins, Flint, and Matthews (2014) evaluate the impact of opening a new supermarket in a food desert and find that while the intervention increased residents' awareness of food accessibility, it did not lead to changes in dietary habits over the four years of the study.…”

Food Insecurity and Aging: A Scoping Study of the Literature

“…Study findings mainly pertained to individual, interpersonal, and environmental risk factors or predictors of food insecurity among older people. Many of the observational studies reported varying prevalence rates of food insecurity within their respective study populations (Fitzpatrick, Greenhalgh-Stanley, & Ver Ploeg, 2015;Russell, Flood, Yeatman, & Mitchell, 2014;Woltil, 2012).…”

“…The methods of eight studies, including three quantitative and five qualitative studies, centred on the importance of examining the relationship between food insecurity and other factors longitudinally (Alley et al, 2009;Bhargava & Lee, 2016;Bhargava, Lee, Jain, Johnson, & Brown, 2012;Fitzpatrick et al, 2015;Frongillo et al, 2003;Green-LaPierre et al, 2012;Russell, Flood, Yeatman Wang, & Mitchell, 2016;Sattler & Lee, 2013;Sharkey, 2005). Other studies made use of cross-sectional data, while citing the importance of understanding the direction and the dynamics of the relationship between food insecurity and aging (Bengle et al, 2010;Brewer et al, 2010;Goldberg & Mawn, 2014;Klesges et al, 2001;Sharkey, 2004;Sharkey, 2005;Temple, 2006).…”