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The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts Workshop Summary (2009) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
Pages 5-10

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From page 5...
... Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, pointed out in the introductory workshop session that community organizers have seen local food and food access as a powerful vehicle for social change for many decades. The study of food deserts, both here and in the United Kingdom, has since evolved to include public health researchers and practitioners, economists, planners, community activists, and others.
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From page 6...
... The workshop agenda was organized as a representative but not exhaustive overview of food deserts: It examined current research findings on the public health impacts of food deserts and explored ways to potentially mitigate those impacts. At the January 26-27, 2009, workshop in Washington, DC, invited speakers gave presentations on how multidisciplinary approaches can be used to measure where and how food deserts occur as well as potential health impacts and strategies to ameliorate them.
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From page 7...
... She also stressed that the focus of the study is on low-income areas, not individuals with low income who may or may not live in a food desert. Planning committee chair Barry Popkin, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, stressed that the food people purchase in stores is but one aspect of their total food environment, a point reiterated by many presenters throughout the workshop.
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From page 8...
... Community Work/School/ Food Options Homes Individual Food Markets Home Purchasing Small Stores School/Worksite Food Intake Food Supermarkets Vending Public Health Outcomes Vendor Carts Fast-Food/ Sit-Down (e.g., Obesity) Restaurants Large Food/Drink Activity Distributors Energy • Leisure Expenditure • School/Work • Home • Transportation FIGURE 1-1 Causal web: role of the food environment on diet-related problems.
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From page 9...
... Food retailers are an important piece of the puzzle, but they only contribute to one factor affecting choice in the American diet. While it was important to note the multiple aspects of the food environment to explain the how complex the issues are, Popkin reiterated that it was outside the workshop scope to address the increased access to unhealthy food options beyond the community food options setting.
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Key Terms

  • food options
  • food environment
  • food desert
  • health implications
  • limited access

  • invited speakers
  • farm bill
  • healthy food
  • nutritious food
  • food retailers

  • health impacts
  • potential health
  • healthy foods
  • local populations
  • planning committee

  • community food
  • local food
  • food choices
  • food people
  • food access

  • total food
  • mitigate food
  • defining food
  • influencing food
  • unhealthy food

  • workshop session
  • introductory workshop
  • deserts tend
  • include public
  • deserts occur


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