title: "You have to hunt for the fruits, the vegetables": environmental barriers and adaptive strategies to acquire food in a low-income African American neighborhood.
abstract: This qualitative study sought to understand food acquisition behaviors and environmental factors that influence those behaviors among women in a low-income African American community with limited food resources. We drew on in-depth interviews with 30 women ages 21 to 45 years recruited from a community health center in Chicago, Illinois. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Emergent themes revealed that women identified multiple environmental barriers--material, economic, and social-interactional--to acquiring food in an acceptable setting. In response, they engaged in several adaptive strategies to manage or alter these challenges, including optimizing, settling, being proactive, and advocating. These findings indicate that efforts to improve neighborhood food environments should address not only food availability and prices but also the physical and social environments of stores.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, USA. szenk@uic.edu
authors.forename: Shannon N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Zenk
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Odoms-Young
authors.forename: Constance
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dallas
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: April
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoskins-Wroten
authors.forename: Loys
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Holland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D002641:Chicago; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D019649:Food Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D005638:Fruit / Q000191:economics / Q000600:supply & distribution; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010465:Perception; D011204:Poverty Areas; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012449:Safety; D012499:Sanitation; D012931:Social Environment; D014675:Vegetables / Q000191:economics / Q000600:supply & distribution