EIGHT:
Food access and food insecurity are topics of great consequence within public health, city planning, and public policy conversations. Food insecurity is a “lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life.” While food access conversations have rightfully interrogated institutional policies and practices, the central stakeholders—the community and citizens experiencing limited food access—have been mainly silenced from these conversations. This chapter will analyze the problem of current governmental policies and commercial agricultural practices, outlining the resulting issues of food insecurity perpetuated when community collaboration and citizen participation disappear from the agricultural production and distribution processes. We argue that food retailers are oriented towards generating profits, promoting the commodification of food, and perpetuating systemic health and social inequities through the disparate implementation of food retailer locations. We also argue that discriminatory zoning and land-use practices have facilitated diminished power and decision-making abilities for community residents in food production and distribution. Subsequently, these communities experience increased issues related to food insecurity, which may be more equitably addressed within a more participatory and community-based food system. We advocate for the necessity of community-informed food distribution and grocery stores and call for collaboration between city officials, urban planning professionals, and community residents to implement community-informed and culturally responsive food retailers and agricultural structures. Since the 1970s, national agricultural policies have spurred an increase in the mass production of food and commodity crops alongside the changing landscape of food retail outlets.
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Bublitz, M. G., Peracchio, L. A., Dadzie, C. A., Escalas, J. E., Hansen, J., Hutton, M. et al (2019) Food access for all: empowering innovative local infrastructure. Journal of Business Research, 100: 354–65.
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Chrisinger, B. W. (2022) Getting to root causes: why equity must be at the center of planning and public health collaboration. Journal of the American Planning Association, 89(2): 160–6.
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Cronin, D. (2023) What role do record corporate profits play in food inflation? Civil Eats. Available from: https://civileats.com/2023/05/22/food-prices-are-still-high-what-role-do-corporate-profits-play/
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Haines, A. (2018) What does zoning have to do with local food systems? Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8(B): 175–90.
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Kim, W. (2023) Prices at the supermarket keep rising. So do corporate profits . Vox [online] March 17. Available from: https://www.vox.com/money/23641875/food-grocery-inflation-prices-billionaires
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Lee, C., Bassam, E. R. W. and Kuhn, I. (2021) Community-oriented actions by food retailers to support community well-being: a systematic scoping review. Public Health, 201: 115–124.
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Reese, A. M. (2019) Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C.: University of North Carolina Press.
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Roman-Alcalá, A. (2020) Op-ed: we can build a better food system through mutual aid. Civil Eats. Available from: https://civileats.com/2020/06/26/op-ed-we-can-build-a-better-food-system-through-mutual-aid/
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Sevilla, N. (2021) Food apartheid: racialized access to healthy affordable food. NRDC. Available from: https://www.nrdc.org/bio/nina-sevilla/food-apartheid-racialized-access-healthy-affordable-food
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Urban Institute (2023) Does SNAP cover the cost of a meal in your county? Urban Institute. Available from: https://www.urban.org/data-tools/does-snap-cover-cost-meal-your-county-2022
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