title: Classifying neighbourhoods by level of access to stores selling fresh fruit and vegetables and groceries: identifying problematic areas in the city of Gatineau, Quebec.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Physical access to stores selling groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables (FV) is essential for urban dwellers. In Canadian cities where low-density development practices are common, social and material deprivation may be compounded by poor geographic access to healthy food. This case study examines access to food stores selling fresh FV in Gatineau, Quebec, to identify areas where poor access is coincident with high deprivation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Food retailers were identified using two secondary sources and each store was visited to establish the total surface area devoted to the sale of fresh FV. Four population-weighted accessibility measures were then calculated for each dissemination area (DA) using road network distances. A deprivation index was created using variables from the 2006 Statistics Canada census, also at the scale of the DA. Finally, six classes of accessibility to a healthy diet were constructed using a k-means classification procedure. These were mapped and superimposed over high deprivation areas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, deprivation is positively correlated with better accessibility. However, more than 18,000 residents (7.5% of the population) live in high deprivation areas characterized by large distances to the nearest retail food store (means of 1.4 km or greater) and virtually no access to fresh FV within walking distance (radius of 1 km).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this research, we identified areas where poor geographic access may introduce an additional constraint for residents already dealing with the challenges of limited financial and social resources. Our results may help guide local food security policies and initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Centre Urbanisation Culture Société, Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Montréal, QC.
authors.forename: Adrian C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Apparicio
authors.forename: Marie-Soleil
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cloutier
mesh_terms: D002947:Cities; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005638:Fruit; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D006801:Humans; D011792:Quebec; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000145:classification*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: Geographic information systems; Geographic mapping; Poverty areas; Socioeconomic factors; Spatial analysis