Perceptions of the local food environment among low‐income residents of Athens, Georgia

Abstract

Previous food environment research has primarily focused on objective measures of food access to find structural explanations why some people are unable to follow the dietary recommendations. This study aimed to better understand subjective measures of food access from the perspective of low‐income individuals from a college town in a persistent poverty county in GA. Qualitative in‐depth interviews were conducted in a convenience sample of low‐income housing residents in Athens, GA (n = 28, mean age 46.6±13.5, 86% female, 82% black). Interviews assessed how respondents thought about their food access, produce acquisition, food choice, and shopping behavior. Each interview was tape‐recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Participants used multiple food resources to obtain food. Qualitative analysis showed that the patterns of food resource use in the study sample were complicated and influenced by 7 interrelated factors: money and other resources to obtain food, food resource characteristics, transportation, health and eating healthy, household composition, and daily schedule. These findings suggest that subjective measures of food access are more complicated than what objective measures may suggest, and can provide a more complete understanding on the food environment and its role on people's food related behaviors and health.Grant Funding Source : This study was funded by ADA Foundation's Amy Joye Memorial Research Award.