Connecting people to food: A network approach to alleviating food deserts
In 2020, 13.8 million people in the United States struggled with food security. This means they were uncertain whether their food needs would be met. Where someone lives can influence struggles with food security. Food deserts are census tracts that experience both high rates of poverty (at least 20 percent of residents living at or below federal poverty thresholds) and low access to grocery stores that offer fresh and nutritious foods. Food deserts and food insecurity disproportionately affect minority and disadvantaged communities and may contribute to serious health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. Public policies can be utilized to lessen the impact of food deserts and one way city leaders can achieve this is through their public transit system. We characterized the role public transportation plays in connecting food desert residents with food by formulating network models from data on food deserts, grocery stores, and public transportation systems for five representative locations: Brown Deer, WI; Lawrence, KS; Albuquerque, NM; Charlotte, NC, and Raleigh, NC. We analyzed these networks by looking at centrality measures, specifically degree and closeness. These centrality measures provide insight on the current situation regarding grocery store access for food deserts. Results of the degree centrality measure varied across study sites; one study site (Lawrence, KS) had at least 1 bus stop within 0.25 miles (0.40 kilometers) of the representative address for each food desert. Conversely, two study sites (Charlotte, NC and Raleigh, NC) each had 2 representative addresses with 0 bus stops within 0.75 miles (1.21 kilometers). When using the closeness centrality measure, 2 food deserts in Albuquerque, NM had the highest number of grocery stores within 30 min (22 and 9) while 44% of food deserts in Raleigh, NC had 0 grocery stores within 30 minutes. Thus, using these results, we identify how public transportation could better connect people with nutritious food and offer these suggestions to city leaders as a way to help eradicate food deserts.