Rethinking Food Deserts:

the practice and politics of food access

Jerry Shannon | Ph.D. candidate, Geography | University of Minnesota

An area in the United States with limited

access to affordable and nutritious food,
particularly such an area composed of
predominantly lower income
neighborhoods and communities.
2008 Farm Bill

My map goes here!

Data from American Community Survey, 2006-2010 and USDA

Gallagher, M. (2006). Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in Chicago

Chicagolandrealestateforum.com

http://impactofspecialneeds.weebly.com

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

My map goes here!

Data from American Community Survey, 2006-2010 and USDA

Pullman Walmart, Chicago

archpaper.com

An expanded, spatialized form of

neoliberal paternalism (Soss et al.,
2011), a set of policies meant to restore
social order to dysfunctional communities
and mismanaged lives (Brown, 2005).
Shannon, J. (2013). Food Deserts: Governing Obesity in
the Neoliberal City. Progress in Human Geography

From
My map goes here!

to

Two part, multi-method study

1) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
2) Neighborhood case studies

Net outflow of SNAP dollars

$40,000,000
$35,000,000

Benefit amount

$30,000,000
$25,000,000

$20,000,000
$15,000,000
$10,000,000
$5,000,000
$-

Benefits receieved
Redemptions
% Benefit "outflow"

(1) Brooklyn
Park

(2) N
Minneapolis

(3) NE
Minneapolis

(4) S
Minneapolis

(5) W St. Paul

(6) E St. Paul

(7) Downtown
St. Paul

(8) West Side,

St. Paul

$7,094,123

$32,176,746

$4,805,599

$38,321,034

$25,493,793

$27,647,394

$6,114,038

$4,149,418

$275,263

$20,510,864

$2,071,701

$21,263,839

$23,591,939

$17,405,041

$442,219

$3,322,591

96%

36%

57%

45%

7%

37%

93%

20%

The role of mid-sized grocers

100%

SNAP redemption dollars by store type, Twin Cities study areas

90%
80%
Other

70%
60%

Convenience
stores
Midsized
grocers
Supermarkets
/supercenters

50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Non study
areas

Brooklyn Park

N
Minneapolis

NE
Minneapolis

S
Minneapolis

West St. Paul

East St. Paul

Downtown
St. Paul

West Side, St.

Paul

Other

2%

0%

0%

26%

3%

4%

4%

7%

4%

Convenience stores

4%

50%

16%

15%

20%

10%

13%

45%

20%

Midsized grocers

4%

50%

19%

59%

60%

20%

12%

48%

76%

Supermarkets/supercenters

90%

0%

64%

0%

17%

66%

71%

0%

0%

Neighborhood case studies

androidcheckstand.com

Case study food shopping

Trips
N. Mpls S. Mpls
Total
98
119
Supermarket
37
25
Mid-sized grocer
12
16
Convenience
14
23
Fast food
16
28
Restaurant
5
13
Other
14
14

Cost
N. Mpls S. Mpls
$ 2,519 $ 2,701
$ 1,297 $ 1,254
$ 877 $ 726
$ 109 $ 199
$ 143 $ 261
$
92 $ 169
$ $
69

Avg. Distance (miles)

N. Mpls
S. Mpls
3.6
2.8
4.1
3.8
1.6
1.5
3.4
0.6
5.8
2.8
5.2
4.6
1.3
4.0

Case study food shopping

Trips
N. Mpls S. Mpls
Total
98
119
Supermarket
37
25
Mid-sized grocer
12
16
Convenience
14
23
Fast food
16
28
Restaurant
5
13
Other
14
14

Cost
N. Mpls S. Mpls
$ 2,519 $ 2,701
$ 1,297 $ 1,254
$ 877 $ 726
$ 109 $ 199
$ 143 $ 261
$
92 $ 169
$ $
69

Avg. Distance (miles)

N. Mpls
S. Mpls
3.6
2.8
4.1
3.8
1.6
1.5
3.4
0.6
5.8
2.8
5.2
4.6
1.3
4.0

I live in the hood, but I hate it.

Mid-sized grocers:
good for lower prices and/or specialty
foods

Case study food shopping

Trips
N. Mpls S. Mpls
Total
98
119
Supermarket
37
25
Mid-sized grocer
12
16
Convenience
14
23
Fast food
16
28
Restaurant
5
13
Other
14
14

Cost
N. Mpls S. Mpls
$ 2,519 $ 2,701
$ 1,297 $ 1,254
$ 877 $ 726
$ 109 $ 199
$ 143 $ 261
$
92 $ 169
$ $
69

Avg. Distance (miles)

N. Mpls
S. Mpls
3.6
2.8
4.1
3.8
1.6
1.5
3.4
0.6
5.8
2.8
5.2
4.6
1.3
4.0

Leslie
Ill get four pounds of bacon because its a
$1.79. And I get a block of cheese for $10, its like
five pounds of cheese. I go there because the
prices are really low. Theyre really low. I can go
in, like I spent $300, and I probably would have
spent $500 if I went to Cub or another grocery
store. So its just an unbelievable amount of
savings.

Tyrell
No, no. Absolutely
not. My health is
more important than
anything else, and if
theyre telling me its
outdated stuff, if I eat
too much outdated
stuff, pretty soon I
might become
outdated.

So Lows meat pack

How does vehicle access affect mobility?

Midpoints are median value

How does vehicle access affect mobility?

From black/white to shades of grey

Mobility matters

Social networks

Next steps
Longitudinal, multi-city analysis of SNAP data
Mobility and the labor of food procurement
Supermarket locations and practices

Credits
Funding provided by:
National Science Foundation
The University of Minnesota
Minnesota Population Center
Thanks to Helga Leitner, Steve Manson, Brenda
Kayzar, Tracey Deutsch, Francis Harvey, J. Michael
Oakes, George Henderson, Valentine Cadieux, and
many others

Census
Zoning
Remote sensed data

SNAP redemptions, Twin Cities metro, FY 2010

Store Type

Redeeming
Stores

Total
redemptions

% of total redemptions

Redemptions per store

Farmers' Market

$4,610

0%

$1,536.58

Fruits/Veg Specialty

$24,795

0%

$12,397.50

Seafood Specialty

$29,966

0.01%

$7,491.50

Delivery Route

11

$682,217

0.20%

$62,019.73

Non-profit Food Buying Co-op

12

$1,298,562

0.39%

$108,213.50

Bakery Specialty

67

$1,378,530

0.41%

$20,575.07

Large Grocery Store

28

$3,619,160

1.09%

$129,255.71

Meat/Poultry Specialty

47

$5,359,226

1.61%

$114,026.09

Small Grocery Store

82

$8,688,319

2.61%

$105,955.11

Combination Grocery/Other

308

$9,055,583

2.72%

$29,401.24

Convenience Store

390

$13,264,261

3.99%

$34,010.93

Medium Grocery Store

114

$23,131,448

6.95%

$202,907.44

Supermarket

66

$34,297,035

10.31%

$519,652.05

Super Store

229

$231,975,063

69.70%

$1,012,991.54

1363

$332,808,775

Total

SNAP redemptions, Twin Cities metro, FY 2010

Store Type

Redeeming
Stores

Total
redemptions

% of total redemptions

Redemptions per store

Farmers' Market

$4,610

0%

$1,536.58

Fruits/Veg Specialty

$24,795

0%

$12,397.50

Seafood Specialty

$29,966

0.01%

$7,491.50

Delivery Route

11

$682,217

0.20%

$62,019.73

Non-profit Food Buying Co-op

12

$1,298,562

0.39%

$108,213.50

Bakery Specialty

67

$1,378,530

0.41%

$20,575.07

Large Grocery Store

28

$3,619,160

1.09%

$129,255.71

Meat/Poultry Specialty

47

$5,359,226

1.61%

$114,026.09

Small Grocery Store

82

$8,688,319

2.61%

$105,955.11

Combination Grocery/Other

308

$9,055,583

2.72%

$29,401.24

Convenience Store

390

$13,264,261

3.99%

$34,010.93

Medium Grocery Store

114

$23,131,448

6.95%

$202,907.44

Supermarket

66

$34,297,035

10.31%

$519,652.05

Super Store

229

$231,975,063

69.70%

$1,012,991.54

1363

$332,808,775

Total

SNAP redemptions, Twin Cities metro, FY 2010

Store Type

Redeeming
Stores

Total
redemptions

% of total redemptions

Redemptions per store

Farmers' Market

$4,610

0%

$1,536.58

Fruits/Veg Specialty

$24,795

0%

$12,397.50

Seafood Specialty

$29,966

0.01%

$7,491.50

Delivery Route

11

$682,217

0.20%

$62,019.73

Non-profit Food Buying Co-op

12

$1,298,562

0.39%

$108,213.50

Bakery Specialty

67

$1,378,530

0.41%

$20,575.07

Large Grocery Store

28

$3,619,160

1.09%

$129,255.71

Meat/Poultry Specialty

47

$5,359,226

1.61%

$114,026.09

Small Grocery Store

82

$8,688,319

2.61%

$105,955.11

Combination Grocery/Other

308

$9,055,583

2.72%

$29,401.24

Convenience Store

390

$13,264,261

3.99%

$34,010.93

Medium Grocery Store

114

$23,131,448

6.95%

$202,907.44

Supermarket

66

$34,297,035

10.31%

$519,652.05

Super Store

229

$231,975,063

69.70%

$1,012,991.54

1363

$332,808,775

Total