干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Mapping the cost of a balanced diet, as a function of travel time and food price

Arid

DOI	10.5304/jafscd.2014.051.010
	Mapping the cost of a balanced diet, as a function of travel time and food price
	Hilbert, Nathan; Evans-Cowley, Jennifer; Reece, Jason; Rogers, Christy; Ake, Wendy; Hoy, Casey
通讯作者	Hoy, C
来源期刊	JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
ISSN	2152-0798
EISSN	2152-0801
出版年	2014
卷号	5 期号:1 页码:105-127
英文摘要	We present a new method for analyzing spatial variation in the cost of a balanced diet, as an alternative to food desert classification. Our specific hypothesis is that the cost of a balanced diet varies according to where one lives, as a function of travel and food item costs. We collected price data for the USDA Thrifty Food Plan from approximately 30 percent of food retail outlets of various kinds in the three Gulf Coast counties of Mississippi, and these prices were extrapolated to the remaining stores. Transportation costs were calculated for both driving by automobile and the combination of walking and public transportation by bus, accounting for both the shoppers' time and the cost of automobile mileage. We developed a "traveling purchaser problem" algorithm to estimate the lowest-cost combination of travel and food costs for purchasing all items in the Thrifty Food Plan for each residential parcel in the study area, and mapped the resulting costs and examined their variation. Estimated costs varied more because of transportation costs than food prices, and ranged from US$109 to US$215 for automobile travel and from US$111 to US$439 for a combination of walking and public transportation. In general, costs were lowest in the more populated areas near the coast and higher in more rural areas further inland. Results of this analysis demonstrate that the cost of acquiring a balanced diet varies considerably and more or less continuously. Food is not equally cheap for all; it depends on where one lives. For any given location, an estimate of the cost of a balanced diet, including both food price and transportation, is more useful than a classification as food desert or not in understanding access issues and needs. Furthermore, policy alternatives that are intended to influence access should be evaluated based on how much they influence costs, and for whom, depending on where people live.
英文关键词	economics food access food desert optimization policy spatial analysis traveling purchaser problem
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	DOAJ Gold
收录类别	ESCI
WOS记录号	WOS:000439886200010
WOS类目	Agronomy
WOS研究方向	Agriculture
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/330965
作者单位	[Hilbert, Nathan; Hoy, Casey] Ohio State Univ, Ohio Agr Res & Dev Ctr, Agroecosyst Management Program, 1680 Madison Ave, Wooster, OH 44691 USA; [Evans-Cowley, Jennifer] Ohio State Univ, Austin E Knowlton Sch Architecture, City & Reg Planning Sect, Columbus, OH USA; [Reece, Jason; Rogers, Christy; Ake, Wendy] Ohio State Univ, Kirwan Inst Study Race & Ethn, Columbus, OH USA
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Hilbert, Nathan,Evans-Cowley, Jennifer,Reece, Jason,et al. Mapping the cost of a balanced diet, as a function of travel time and food price[J],2014,5(1):105-127.
APA	Hilbert, Nathan,Evans-Cowley, Jennifer,Reece, Jason,Rogers, Christy,Ake, Wendy,&Hoy, Casey.(2014).Mapping the cost of a balanced diet, as a function of travel time and food price.JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT,5(1),105-127.
MLA	Hilbert, Nathan,et al."Mapping the cost of a balanced diet, as a function of travel time and food price".JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 5.1(2014):105-127.