Food Deserts
What are Food Deserts?
quoted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert
A food desert is a district with little or no access to foods needed to maintain a healthy diet, but often served by plenty of fast food restaurants.
The concept of 'access' may be interpreted in three separate ways.
'Physical access' to shops can be difficult if the shops are
distant, the shopper is elderly or infirm, the area has many hills,
public transport links are poor, and the consumer has no car. Also, the
shop may be across a busy road, difficult to cross with children or
with underpasses that some fear to use because of a crime risk. For
some, such as the disabled, the inside of the shop may be hard to
access physically if there are steps up, or the interior is cramped
with no room for walking aids. Carrying fresh food home may also be
hard for some.'Financial access' is difficult if the consumer lacks the money to
buy healthy foods (generally more expensive, calorie for calorie, than
less healthy, sugary, and fatty 'junk foods') or if the shopper cannot
afford the bus fare to remote shops selling fresh foods and instead
uses local fast food outlets. Other forms of financial access barriers
may be inability to afford storage space for food, or for the very
poor, living in temporary accommodation that does not offer good
cooking facilities.Thirdly, the mental attitude or food knowledge of the consumer may
prevent them accessing fresh vegetables. They may lack cooking
knowledge, or have the idea that eating a healthy diet isn't important.
What kind of Data and Mapping tools can be used to understand Food Deserts
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert