Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters

Posted by on December 02, 2013

Research Confirms Access to Healthy Food Still Matters

A new joint report by PolicyLink and The Food Trust, Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters: A Review of the Research, underscores healthy food access as the foundation necessary for reaping the positive benefits associated with healthy food.

Without access to healthy foods, a nutritious diet and good health are out of reach. And without grocery stores and other fresh food retailers, communities are also missing the commercial vitality that makes neighborhoods livable and helps local economies thrive.

The report reveals that improving healthy food access in low-income communities and communities of color continues to be an urgent need with nearly 30 million people living in low-income areas with limited access to supermarkets (defined as the closest store being more than a mile away). The problem is particularly acute in low-income communities of color.

The new report reviews research reaffirming that access to healthy food is a critical component of healthy, thriving communities. The report reviews more than 170 studies, published between 2010 and 2013, in an attempt to synthesize and present the latest research on healthy food access and identify where gaps may still exist since the publication of the first groundbreaking 2010 report, The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters.

http://www.policylink.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lkIXLbMNJrE&b=5136581&ct=8079863

The report includes three primary findings:

• Accessing healthy food is still a challenge for many families, particularly those living in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and rural areas.
• Living closer to healthy food retail is among the factors associated with better eating habits and decreased risk for obesity and diet-related diseases.
• Healthy food retail stimulates economic activity.

The research review led to the following policy and research recommendations:

• Comprehensive equity-oriented approaches to improving food retailing and access, that take economic, social, and environmental contexts into account, are needed to improve health.
• Strategies should focus on those most in need—low-income people and communities of color.
• Research that examines local lived experiences and uncovers lessons about the implementation of recent initiatives to improve food retailing in communities with limited access will be critical to understanding how healthy food can be accessed by all.

To download an executive summary of the report, click here.

http://www.policylink.org/atf/cf/%7B97c6d565-bb43-406d-a6d5-eca3bbf35af0%7D/GROCERYGAP_SUMMARY_FINAL_NOVEMBER2013.PDF

To download the full report, click here.

http://www.policylink.org/atf/cf/%7B97c6d565-bb43-406d-a6d5-eca3bbf35af0%7D/GROCERYGAP_FINAL_NOV2013.PDF