UC Berkeley Earlier Faculty Research Title Homeward Bound: Food-Related Transportation Strategies in Low Income and Transit Dependent Communities Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/85n1j2bb Authors Gottlieb, Robert Fisher, Andrew Dohan, Marc et al. Publication Date 1996 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Homeward Bound: Food-Related Transportation Strategies in LowIncome and Transit Dependent Communities Robert Gottlieb Andrew Fisher Marc Dohan Linda O’Connor Virginia Parks Working Paper UCTCNo. 336 The University of California Transportation Center University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 The University of California Transportation Center The University of California Center activities. 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Homeward Bound: Food-Related Transportation Strategies in Low Income and Transit Dependent Communities Robert Gottlieb AndrewFisher Marc Dohan Linda O’Connor Vb~givAaParks The CommunityFood Security Project of the UCLAPollution Prevention Education and Research Center Department of Urban Planning University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90095 WorkingPaper 1996 UCTCNo. 336 TheUniversity of California TransportationCenter Universityof Californiaat Berkeley TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1 SectionI: ............................................................................................................................ 6 Food Access and the Transit Dependent: Where to Get Food and How to Get There SectionII: ........................................................................................................................... 20 Current Policies SectionIIi: .......................................................................................................................... 36 Exploratory Programs: Case Studies SectionIV: .......................................................................................................................... 57 Three Approaches to the Problem: Establi,shing the Framework #or Food Access SectionV: ............................................................................................................................ 73 Framing Food Access: Policy and Planning Recommendations Homeward Bound Page I INTRODUCTION Pa~e 2 HomewardBound n 1993, a UCLAresearch team published withindividual needs in securing an ad- a comprehensive study of the food svs equate diet, while the lack of food security I tern, Seeds of Change: Strategies for referred to community and ownership is- Food SecuriWfor the Inner City. The studv sues: access, availability, resources, price, included a detailed case studv evaluating quality, environmental considerations, in- the ability of the food system to meet the come levels, and other community-related needs of the residents of’one South Central factors. Foodsecurity strategies might in- Los Angeles neighborhood. As part of that clude direct grower-to-consumer programs evaluation, the studv documented a wide like farmers’ markets, urban agriculture range of food insecurity, indicators: opportunities such as community,gardens, or community food production facilities 27%of area residents reportedthev went such as bakeries or tortiIlerias. Programs hungry an average of five days every designed to address supermarket location month; and transportation access needs also repre- sented possible food security initiatives. The absence of nearbv supermarkets was Thesecould include joint venture operations compoundedbv lower than average ve- to attract supermarkets in low incomeareas hicle ownership. Further, bus lines did as well as to create communitybenefits such not correspond to market location. As a as new paratransit services for residents result, the lack of transportation for food without cars, or other innovative transpor- buying purposes was defined by resi- tat-ion programsfor increased food access. dents as a maior communityproblem; Thus the concept of food securiW, particu- larly in the context of food access, empha- Food prices for residents of the case sizes the importanceof location or place in study area -- who spent 36%of their regional, municipal, and neighborhood- annual income on food -- averaged $275 level (e.g., community)settings. moreper year than residents of a selected suburban area who spent 12%of their Amongthe range of food insecurity indica- income on food; tors, the issues of access stand out as a pri- mary problem area in which several other The lack of flesh quality p:oduce illus- factors such as price, nutritional quali .ty, or trated the issue of nutritional deficien- storage capability, are significantly related. cies and retated health and learning Yet despite the prominenceof access needs problems that are endemicin low income in urban food systems, research by food sys- areas.1 tem analysts regarding transportation issues has been relatively sparse. Transportation In response to such pronounced food secu- planners, meanwhile, have undertaken spe- rity needs, the Seeds of Changestudy also cific research involving equity consider- analyzed a numberof recent, largely explor- ations in transportation planning, including atory strategies designed to empowercom- the limits of transportation systemsaddress- munities and shift the focus of intervention ing the needs of low income communities from "hunger" to "food security", a concept and the problems associated with low ve- that had up to then been used primarily in hicte ownership in car-dependent commu- the international developmentliterature. nities like Los AngelesFOnly a few studies, The study pointed out that the concept of however, have explored the connection be- hunger had been predominantly associated tween access and availabiIity of fresh, high Homeward Bound Pa~e 3 quality, competitively priced food in such proach to customer transportation needs communities, even as surveys have indi- and the dearth of transportation planning cated that the access/availability link re- initiatives that incorporate food access, there mains a powerful concern in low income have nevertheless been recent attempts by communities.3 communitv organizations, food market managers, and government agencies to ad- The most common focus, both of research dress this issue. Out of these efforts, a vari- and advocacy work on those subjects, has ety of transportation/food access programs been the relationship between vehicle own- are currentlv in operation, at a development ership and supermarket location.~ As de- stage, or represent concepts still needing to scribed in this Report, the trend towards be implemented. And while these programs supermarket abandonment of low income do suggest that opportunities for a food ac- neighborhoods that significantly escalated cess approach do exist, they remain sepa- during the 1960s and 1970s exacerbated an rate from any more integrated transporta- alreadv existing problem tion strategies on the part of transportation access. of either retailers, trans- Even with the renewed portation planning agen- interest of food chains in Even with the renewed cies, or various service relocating to certain low interest of food chains in providers. For food ac- income urban communi- relocating to certain low cess to be more success- ties, supermarkets have income urban communi- fully addressed as a com- failed to directlv address ties, supermarkets have munity food security ap- the transportation