Visualizing Accessibility II: Access to Food

Food security is emerging as an important aspect of community and social planning, reflected in part by a recent special issue on Community Food Systems of the Journal of Planning Education and Research (JPER). As noted by Campbell (2004), food systems involve many stakeholders with differing values across space and time. One particular element of this larger food security issue revolves around transportation access to local food retailers. Such access is particularly important for the poor and other transportation disadvantaged who may lack mobility options (Clifton 2004). Thus, one important component of a Community Food Assessment system (Pothukuchi 2004) is to investigate and understand the spatial relationship of where individuals live and their spatial proximity to primary food outlets.