title: Where are the food deserts? An evaluation of policy-relevant measures of community food access in South Carolina.
abstract: Several recent United States (US) policies target spatial access to healthier food retailers. We evaluated two measures of community food access developed by two different agencies, using a 2009 food environment validation study in South Carolina as a reference. While the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service's (USDA ERS) measure designated 22.5% of census tracts as food deserts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) measure designated 29.0% as non-healthier retail tracts; 71% of tracts were designated consistently between USDA ERS and CDC. Our findings suggest a need for greater harmonization of these measures of community food access.
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors: Angela D
authors: AD
authors: Liese
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors: James D
authors: JD
authors: Hibbert
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 921 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors: Xiaoguang
authors: X
authors: Ma
authors: College of Education, University of South Carolina, 820 South Main Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors: Bethany A
authors: BA
authors: Bell
authors: Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, 709 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors: Sarah E
authors: SE
authors: Battersby
keywords: food desert; food environment; policy; spatial access