Determinants of food deserts

The food environment facing low-income urban and rural communities in Arkansas over the 2004-2010 periods was studied. In addition to a binary food desert measure, grocery store access in terms of miles to the nearest grocery store was also measured. To characterize the food environment, the study began with census blocks. A block is the smallest census geography and there are 141,178 census blocks in Arkansas. The radial distance from the centroid of each census block to the nearest grocery store was measured and establishment densities for grocery stores were computed, convenience stores, and fast-food restaurants at various radial distances around the census block. After measuring the food environment at the block level, the block-group level aggregates was computed as the population weighted average over all the blocks contained within a given block group. The results suggest that Arkansans living in food deserts do appear to have more exposure to fast-food restaurants and convenience stores.