Tradition of Healthy Food Access in Low-Income Neighborhoods: Price and Variety of Curbside Produce Vending Compared to Conventional Retailers

Abstract

This paper describes the longstanding, naturally emergent model of curbside vending of whole fruit and vegetable produce across several low-income, low-health Philadelphia neighborhoods. We conducted open-ended interviews with managers of 11 curbside produce vendors and compared prices and varieties of fruits and vegetables with the 11 closest conventional outlets. We find that produce trucks offer significantly lower prices on common fruit and vegetable items and they carry a variety of items comparable to that carried by limited-assortment grocery stores. We conclude with recommendations regarding zoning, licensing, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) authorization that could stabilize and expand this model of healthy food access.

The Ebb and Flow of Planning Specializations

“…Documenting the problem and conceiving planning tools and initiatives became a popular topic of research for their doctoral students, Samina Raja and Brandon Born. Together with other planning scholars, they analyzed a growing food-related social movement by focusing on nutritional food deserts tied to racial and socioeconomic segregation (Raja, Ma, and Yadav 2008;Raja et al 2010; McEntee and Agyeman 2010), price and availability of healthy food (Brinkley, Chrisinger, and Hillier 2013), self-provisioning (Smit, Nasr, and Ratta 1996), and policy critique (Born and Purcell 2006). Disciplinary collaboration is characterized by coauthorship with faculty from health disciplines and publications in non-planning, health-related journals (e.g., Roemmich et al 2006;Hillier et al 2011).…”

Towards the Development of the Informal Economy: The Case of Street Trading in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

“…Some have argued in its favour, while some have argued against it. In favour of street trading, Brinkley et al [7] submitted that "small, mobile retailers such as produce trucks and healthy street food vendors may offer better food environment interventions because they require little start-up, can easily target schools and neighbourhoods with poor access to healthful foods, and circumvent the need to own real estate." Their study demonstrated that kerbside produce vendors successfully supply a range of whole fruits and vegetables in a predominantly low-and middle-income African American section of Philadelphia at prices lower than conventional food outlets.…”

Culturing Food Deserts: Recognizing the Power of Community-Based Solutions

“…Instead of focusing on supermarkets, we argue that it would be more empowering to engage communities in a conversation about what they are already doing that works, and be open to a wide range of possibilities to scale such ventures. By overlooking residents' other means of sourcing healthy food, policymakers may unintentionally cause further injustices in the local food system or miss an opportunity to augment an already existing low-cost locally-based option, such as healthy street food vending (Brinkley et al, 2013). We aim to expose such options for health with the research below.…”