Everyone does not have the same access to food sources as each other. Some groups of people have easy access to large supermarkets, while other groups have more access to small grocery stores. A study done in Erie County, New York showed that people belonging to different racial groups have different access to neighborhood food destinations (Raja et al). In this study, it was found that neighborhoods of color have less access to supermarkets than compared to white neighborhoods. Also, interestingly, Erie County does not have any food deserts according to this study. The neighborhoods with less access to super markets supported smaller high-quality grocery stores.
In the Clifton case study, low-income households in Austin, Texas were analyzed to find out how mobility constraints can affect a family's ability to collect food. The mobility that an automobile provides is a huge factor in the different range of food options that one family has. But, the low-income households still rely heavily on public transit or foot travel in order to acquire different types of food.
The Short case study researched the small full-service food markets that service low-income urban neighborhoods. It is found that these stores provide a wide-variety of low cost food options for these neighborhoods which provides community food security. Some of these smaller stores tend to target a particular ethnic group, depending on the neighborhood they are located in.
Good job summarizing the main points of the readings in this post. It is interesting that the Erie County in New York does not have any food deserts, I would say it is a good thing but there is still a disparity in food access between whites and nonwhites. Allowing there to be smaller "high-quality" grocery stores is probably how this is accomplished, and I do think that is great. Cities should offer retail development that houses grocery stores like these to fight food insecurity. This is easy for New York to do I could imagine, since they are accustomed to high-density development and mixed use development, both of which promote multiple modes of transportation (justice for all). This would be hard for Austin, Texas to accomplish due to its low-density development.
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