Defining Underserved Primer - Healthy Food Access Portal
Defining Underserved Primer Determining if a region is underserved by fresh food retail can be a complicated process that includes a variety of factors about the neighborhood including income level, population density, car ownership rates, and the quality and location of supermarkets and grocery stores. A number of resources are out there to help you identify need in your community. Highlighted below are three resources for assessing an underserved community: USDA Food Desert Locator, The Reinvestment Fund’s PolicyMap, and The Food Trust’s Eligibility Evaluation Process. All three of these tools can be used to qualify projects for federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative funds.
USDA Food Desert Locator: The USDA has released the Food Desert Locator that shows census tracts considered food deserts by the USDA. Projects located in a food desert, according to this tool, can qualify for federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) funds. Here a food desert is defined as a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store. o To qualify as a “low-income community,” a census tract must have either a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, or a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area’s median family income. o To qualify as a “low-access community,” at least 500 people and/or at least 33 percent of the census tract’s population must reside more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (for rural census tracts, the distance is more than 10 miles).
The Reinvestment Fund’s (TRF) Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) Study available through PolicyMap: TRF’s national LSA study was funded by the US Department of Treasury CDFI Fund, and identifies 1,519 cluster (LSA areas) where multiple contiguous block groups show limited access to supermarkets. TRF methods and study results are publicly available via TRF’s website and at PolicyMap.com, TRF’s online data and mapping tool. The mapping tool allows users to viewed individual LSA areas or assess a regions’ needs, view the locations of existing stores, see the demand for food and dollars spent outside the community on food. Policymap also provides users with the ability to view the study findings with community demographics from the US Census. Projects located in a LSA areas, can qualify for Healthy Food Financing Initiative funds. For additional information, go to the LSA and PolicyMap Primer and The Reinvestment Fund’s summary of its research and analysis methods.
The Food Trust’s Eligibility Evaluation Process: The Food Trust evaluates eligibility for the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative the New York Healthy Food and Healthy Communities Fund and the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative using a comprehensive process that examines the income level of a community (located in a low-to-moderate income (LMI) census tract or serving residents of an LMI area); the proximity of fresh food retail in the surrounding area; and the community fit of the project, including such things as acceptance of federal nutrition assistance benefits, population density, job creation, and community support. The process employs both secondary data sources, as well as primary, on-the
ground research including consultation with local community stakeholders to verify findings and better understand the food access landscape at the local level. This methodology can also qualify projects for federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) funds. For more information on our methodology: Healthy Food Financing Handbook.
USDA Food Desert Locator: The USDA has released the Food Desert Locator that shows census tracts considered food deserts by the USDA. Projects located in a food desert, according to this tool, can qualify for federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) funds. Here a food desert is defined as a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store. o To qualify as a “low-income community,” a census tract must have either a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, or a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area’s median family income. o To qualify as a “low-access community,” at least 500 people and/or at least 33 percent of the census tract’s population must reside more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (for rural census tracts, the distance is more than 10 miles).
The Reinvestment Fund’s (TRF) Limited Supermarket Access (LSA) Study available through PolicyMap: TRF’s national LSA study was funded by the US Department of Treasury CDFI Fund, and identifies 1,519 cluster (LSA areas) where multiple contiguous block groups show limited access to supermarkets. TRF methods and study results are publicly available via TRF’s website and at PolicyMap.com, TRF’s online data and mapping tool. The mapping tool allows users to viewed individual LSA areas or assess a regions’ needs, view the locations of existing stores, see the demand for food and dollars spent outside the community on food. Policymap also provides users with the ability to view the study findings with community demographics from the US Census. Projects located in a LSA areas, can qualify for Healthy Food Financing Initiative funds. For additional information, go to the LSA and PolicyMap Primer and The Reinvestment Fund’s summary of its research and analysis methods.
The Food Trust’s Eligibility Evaluation Process: The Food Trust evaluates eligibility for the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative the New York Healthy Food and Healthy Communities Fund and the New Orleans Fresh Food Retailer Initiative using a comprehensive process that examines the income level of a community (located in a low-to-moderate income (LMI) census tract or serving residents of an LMI area); the proximity of fresh food retail in the surrounding area; and the community fit of the project, including such things as acceptance of federal nutrition assistance benefits, population density, job creation, and community support. The process employs both secondary data sources, as well as primary, on-the
ground research including consultation with local community stakeholders to verify findings and better understand the food access landscape at the local level. This methodology can also qualify projects for federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) funds. For more information on our methodology: Healthy Food Financing Handbook.
