Abstract
Abstract. Food desert (FD) is the area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods. FDs are important socio-economic problems in North Carolina (NC), potentially contributing to obesity in low-income areas. If farmland is available, local vegetable production could potentially help alleviate FDs. However, little is known about land use and land-use transitions (LUTs) in the vicinity of FDs. To fill this knowledge gap, we study the farmland use in three NC counties, Bladen, Guilford and, Rutherford, located in Coastal, Piedmont, and, Mountain regions of the state, respectively. The analysis combines the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2015 FD/NFD delineation of census tracts, and geospatial soil productivity and 2008–2019 land cover data. The understanding of farmland use is expected to contribute to the development of LUT components of FD Agent-Based Models (ABM).
Highlights
The term “food desert” (FD) was formally introduced to describe areas with limited access to affordable nutritious foods, areas in lower-income neighborhoods
The spatial pattern of farmland use in the county suggests that Vegetables & produce (VP) and Berries & nontree fruits (BF) uses are concentrated in only a few spots – the finding that warrants additional investigation
We did not find any noticeable differences in the soil productivity or in the use of farmland between Food desert (FD) and Non-Food Desert (NFD) areas
Summary
The term “food desert” (FD) was formally introduced to describe areas with limited access to affordable nutritious foods, areas in lower-income neighborhoods. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed an web-based, national mapping tool that pinpoints the location of FDs at the census track level (https://www.ers.usda.gov/dataproducts/food-access-research-atlas/, accessed July 2020). Smith et al (2012) evaluated how recent trends and legislative developments have increased access to fresh and healthy food in New Jersey. Since 2011, the state’s legislative acts have allowed nonprofit corporations and associations located in select New Jersey cities to transform vacant properties into gardens for growing fruits and vegetables. The government has lowered the cost of urban agriculture projects by making public land available, tax-free, and contributing to alleviation of FD in the select cities. While Smith et al (2012) focused on vacant urban properties as a source of land for expanding local vegetable production, potentially larger areas could come from farmland, the land use considered in this study
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