In a region where vehicular travel is dominant, not having access to a personal vehicle can leave residents without reliable access to essential goods and services – such as food! While alternative options exist, such as food delivery, public transportation, and active transportation, they are not the most economical, time-efficient, or convenient. Proximity to healthy and nutrient-rich food is a necessity for planning accessible communities, and a priority in guiding new housing development.

The Food & Transportation Access Study will take a deeper look into the connections between food, housing, and transportation within the region. By conducting thorough research and data analyses and actively engaging with the community and stakeholders, we aim to identify communities with food insecurity and how gaps in the transportation network impact their access to fresh food. This will allow us to develop recommendations to enhance access to food in the region.

Access to nutritious food is a basic need, yet not all households experience it equally. Understanding the difference between food security and food insecurity helps illustrate how reliable access to healthy food impacts health, stability, and quality of life.

Food security means having reliable, easy access to enough safe and nutritious food to support an active, healthy life. It ensures food is not only available, but also adequate in quality and quantity.

Food insecurity, on the other hand, occurs when access to nutritious food is limited or uncertain. It can mean struggling to afford healthy options, relying on lower-quality foods, or not knowing where the next meal will come from.

How are food security and insecurity measured?

The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) measures food security in 4 categories.

1. High food security: No problems or anxiety about consistently accessing adequate food.
2. Marginal food security: Has problems at times, or anxiety about accessing adequate food, but the quality, variety, and quantity of food intake are not substantially reduced.
3. Low food security: Reduce the quality, variety, and desirability of diet, but the quantity of food intake and normal eating patterns are not substantially disrupted.
4. Very low food security: At times during the year, eating patterns of one or more household members are disrupted and food intake is reduced due to financial constraints and other resources for food.

Access to healthy, affordable food is an essential part of community well-being. However, many neighborhoods face barriers to food security due to their local food environment. Two common challenges are food deserts and food swamps, which limit residents’ ability to make nutritious choices and often intersect with transportation access.

A food desert is an area with little to no access to full-service grocery stores or other sources of affordable, nutritious food. For many households, a lack of reliable transportation further restricts the ability to travel to healthier food outlets, deepening the barrier to food security.

A food swamp is an area where unhealthy food options, such as fast food restaurants and convenience stores, are far more common than healthier alternatives. Limited transportation options can make it even harder for residents to reach grocery stores outside the immediate area.