Abstract
Characteristics of Potential Spatial Access to a Variety of Fruits and Vegetables in a Large Rural Area
Joseph R. Sharkey, Texas A&M University
Description
Supermarkets are considered by many researchers as the sole retail source of fruits and
vegetables for consumer choice. There has been limited study of all types of food stores as
potential opportunities for purchase of fresh and processed (canned and frozen) fruits and
vegetables, especially in rural areas. In this paper, data from the Brazos Valley Food
Environment Project (BVFEP) are combined with 2000 U.S. census data to examine
neighborhood access to fruits and vegetables. BVFEP data include identification and geocoding
of food stores in six rural counties in Texas, using ground-truthed methods
and on-site
assessment of the availability and variety of fresh and processed (canned, frozen, and 100%
juice) fruits and vegetables in all food stores, using an observational survey. Specifically, two
criteria of access – proximity and coverage – will be used to describe the potential access to a
variety of fruits and vegetables by residents of the six study counties.
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