Edmonton can't take a one-size-fits-all approach to eliminating food deserts because ours look quite a bit different than what's typical, a recent study shows.
The term "food deserts" describes neighbourhoods which lack easy access to affordable nutritious food, based on limited proximity to full-service supermarkets. Studies from the United States say food deserts tend to be clustered in low-income, inner-city areas.
Not so in Edmonton.
"Something surprised us - people with high incomes tend to live far from supermarkets," said Haoluan Wang, a masters student in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, who led the research.
In fact, some people living in well-to-do suburban neighbourhoods of the northeast and southeast have statistically poorer access to fresh fruit and vegetables than several mid-city neighbourhoods.
That's due to the array of community gardens clustered near the mid-city, said Wang, who made these discoveries while updating research done on food deserts at the University of Alberta in 2006.
He wanted to know if the farmers' markets and community gardens that have sprung up over the past decade had alleviated food deserts, at all.
By analyzing road networks to determine which neighbourhoods lacked a full-service supermarket within a kilometre of their border, and by factoring in three high-need criteria (low median income, low car access, and high population density), Wang's research team identified eight food deserts in the city: Alberta Avenue, Blue Quill, Boyle Street, Casselman, Inglewood, Malmo Plains, Thorncliff and Tipaskan. Four were in inner-suburban neighbourhoods (i.e. mid-city), while four others were in the west, southeast, northeast and on the city's periphery.
Of the eight, Wang and his fellow researchers Feng Qiu and Brent Swallow (REES assistant professor and professor, respectively) were particularly interested in the four mature, mid-city neighbourhoods, because the 2006 study had produced quite similar results there.
Since the city has just 17 farmers' markets, the researchers could make no conclusive statements about the effect of those on food deserts. But when the city's 61 registered community gardens were factored into the analysis, something notable happened.
"Those four food deserts (in the mid-city) disappear to some extent," he said.
However, this good news is a temporary relief, said Wang, because community gardens only operate in the summer and likely only provide fresh vegetables, not meat or dairy foods. More research is also needed to determine how much fresh food the community gardens actually provide to residents of their neighbourhoods.
Nonetheless, the team had several recommendations for Edmonton officials. One, because our food deserts are scattered across the city, a single approach will not address the entire issue. Secondly, in the high-income areas where access to supermarkets is poor, targeting seniors and other individuals with services such as Meals on Wheels and retail home delivery systems, would be appropriate.
Lastly, the city should be more supportive of farmers' markets in the suburban areas with poor supermarket access and also make it easier to access vacant land for community gardens across the city.
The study was published in Applied Geography.
The term "food deserts" describes neighbourhoods which lack easy access to affordable nutritious food, based on limited proximity to full-service supermarkets. Studies from the United States say food deserts tend to be clustered in low-income, inner-city areas.
Not so in Edmonton.
"Something surprised us - people with high incomes tend to live far from supermarkets," said Haoluan Wang, a masters student in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, who led the research.
In fact, some people living in well-to-do suburban neighbourhoods of the northeast and southeast have statistically poorer access to fresh fruit and vegetables than several mid-city neighbourhoods.
That's due to the array of community gardens clustered near the mid-city, said Wang, who made these discoveries while updating research done on food deserts at the University of Alberta in 2006.
He wanted to know if the farmers' markets and community gardens that have sprung up over the past decade had alleviated food deserts, at all.
By analyzing road networks to determine which neighbourhoods lacked a full-service supermarket within a kilometre of their border, and by factoring in three high-need criteria (low median income, low car access, and high population density), Wang's research team identified eight food deserts in the city: Alberta Avenue, Blue Quill, Boyle Street, Casselman, Inglewood, Malmo Plains, Thorncliff and Tipaskan. Four were in inner-suburban neighbourhoods (i.e. mid-city), while four others were in the west, southeast, northeast and on the city's periphery.
Of the eight, Wang and his fellow researchers Feng Qiu and Brent Swallow (REES assistant professor and professor, respectively) were particularly interested in the four mature, mid-city neighbourhoods, because the 2006 study had produced quite similar results there.
Since the city has just 17 farmers' markets, the researchers could make no conclusive statements about the effect of those on food deserts. But when the city's 61 registered community gardens were factored into the analysis, something notable happened.
"Those four food deserts (in the mid-city) disappear to some extent," he said.
However, this good news is a temporary relief, said Wang, because community gardens only operate in the summer and likely only provide fresh vegetables, not meat or dairy foods. More research is also needed to determine how much fresh food the community gardens actually provide to residents of their neighbourhoods.
Nonetheless, the team had several recommendations for Edmonton officials. One, because our food deserts are scattered across the city, a single approach will not address the entire issue. Secondly, in the high-income areas where access to supermarkets is poor, targeting seniors and other individuals with services such as Meals on Wheels and retail home delivery systems, would be appropriate.
Lastly, the city should be more supportive of farmers' markets in the suburban areas with poor supermarket access and also make it easier to access vacant land for community gardens across the city.
The study was published in Applied Geography.