Postcard from America Food security in America Food distribution (the distance of grocery markets to residences) is a market stratification based on the socioeconomic conditions of the market capture area, 3 to 5 miles around a store. I observed that a major grocery chain in America has different stores for different folks: where average socioeconomic stratification is high, the stores carry high-end food products not found in stores owned by the same chain in other parts of the city. In terms of meeting stratified market demand through distribution analysis, the system works. Capitalism meets specialized or niche market demand with an appropriate supply of goods and services at a price thus providing the owners with required profits. In the market economic structure, it is certain that when a given profit level is not met, the store will close. The critical problem emerges when we examine poor neighborhoods not served by any major retail grocer because market studies have shown the owners (stockholders and management) that it would be difficult to build sufficient demand at the required price to reach an acceptable return on investment in that neighborhood. The result is that since people must eat, they must buy food, and ultimately they must travel to the nearest grocer that carries food items in their price range. Most people living in poorer neighborhoods without a nearby grocer (known as a food desert) must walk to the nearest bus stop to travel to the nearest retail grocer that carries food in an affordable price range. Customers then carry their food in bags by hand or in small wheeled carts to the bus to go back to the end point nearest to their homes. This is also when people may be most vulnerable to being assaulted. Even in cases where the trip is relatively safe from assault, many people living in poorer neighborhoods are elderly, handicapped and/or just too poor to own a car or spend money on a cab, thus making the trip a major undertaking. What can be done to shore up these ‘food deserts’? Some of these problems can be mitigated through urban
planning. When new neighborhoods are in the planning stages, or when older neighborhoods are in urban renewal stages, public health advisors serving on planning commissions can assess plans and make recommendations for improved access to services such as food and healthcare. Next point, with particular emphasis on food availability, it is important to partner with one or more retail grocery chains to invest in poor neighborhoods with a store carrying an appropriate inventory at an appropriate price level for the expected socioeconomic environment. In America, a retail grocery store seeking zoning approval for new stores should be required to offer store locations in poorer neighborhoods as well. This is known as social engineering. An idea was posed that grocery chains could distribute food mobiles which could travel to neighborhoods on a weekly basis. This made sense: as a kid in elementary school, I enjoyed the convenience of a mobile library that parked near my home once a week and was full of books I could check out. This meant that I did not have to find a way downtown to the city library; so, if we can do this with books, then why not with food? Local public health authorities could staff the food mobile with a public health nurse or diabetes educator to enhance services. In studying the history of cities in America, much local consumer trade, including food items, was conducted by street vendors using pushcarts. The housewife, the elderly or handicapped resident of the city did not have to travel to a distantly located retail outlet for most of the household items they needed. And, from the business standpoint of profits, the pushcart vendors did not have many overhead costs, so their fares were more fairly priced for the consumer living in poorer neighborhoods. History provides a ‘new’ idea of distribution of consumer items, such as food and basic health-care services in the neighborhoods where people live. Michael W. Popejoy, PhD, MPH, FRSPH
Womb cancer can be prevented by keeping active Scientific research relating to womb cancer and the ways to prevent it has now been collated and reviewed by a team of researchers at Imperial College, London. Endometrial cancer (cancer of the womb lining) is the fourth most common cancer among women in the UK. These researchers have found that almost half of all cases of womb cancer still to occur in the future can be prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, keeping slim and staying active. After extensive research, the study concludes that around 3700 cases could be prevented every year, should new guidelines on activity levels be followed. They found evidence that this type of cancer could be prevented if women were active for 38 minutes a day, whilst maintaining a healthy body weight within the normal recommended ranges. At the moment, only around 56% of women in the UK follow physical activity recommendations regularly and only 39% have a healthy weight – if more women were to follow new recommendations, a significant number of womb cancer cases could potentially be prevented in the future. For more information: www.wcrf-uk.org
November 2013 Vol 133 No 6 l Perspectives in Public Health 287 Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at Purdue University on June 10, 2015
planning. When new neighborhoods are in the planning stages, or when older neighborhoods are in urban renewal stages, public health advisors serving on planning commissions can assess plans and make recommendations for improved access to services such as food and healthcare. Next point, with particular emphasis on food availability, it is important to partner with one or more retail grocery chains to invest in poor neighborhoods with a store carrying an appropriate inventory at an appropriate price level for the expected socioeconomic environment. In America, a retail grocery store seeking zoning approval for new stores should be required to offer store locations in poorer neighborhoods as well. This is known as social engineering. An idea was posed that grocery chains could distribute food mobiles which could travel to neighborhoods on a weekly basis. This made sense: as a kid in elementary school, I enjoyed the convenience of a mobile library that parked near my home once a week and was full of books I could check out. This meant that I did not have to find a way downtown to the city library; so, if we can do this with books, then why not with food? Local public health authorities could staff the food mobile with a public health nurse or diabetes educator to enhance services. In studying the history of cities in America, much local consumer trade, including food items, was conducted by street vendors using pushcarts. The housewife, the elderly or handicapped resident of the city did not have to travel to a distantly located retail outlet for most of the household items they needed. And, from the business standpoint of profits, the pushcart vendors did not have many overhead costs, so their fares were more fairly priced for the consumer living in poorer neighborhoods. History provides a ‘new’ idea of distribution of consumer items, such as food and basic health-care services in the neighborhoods where people live. Michael W. Popejoy, PhD, MPH, FRSPH
Womb cancer can be prevented by keeping active Scientific research relating to womb cancer and the ways to prevent it has now been collated and reviewed by a team of researchers at Imperial College, London. Endometrial cancer (cancer of the womb lining) is the fourth most common cancer among women in the UK. These researchers have found that almost half of all cases of womb cancer still to occur in the future can be prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, keeping slim and staying active. After extensive research, the study concludes that around 3700 cases could be prevented every year, should new guidelines on activity levels be followed. They found evidence that this type of cancer could be prevented if women were active for 38 minutes a day, whilst maintaining a healthy body weight within the normal recommended ranges. At the moment, only around 56% of women in the UK follow physical activity recommendations regularly and only 39% have a healthy weight – if more women were to follow new recommendations, a significant number of womb cancer cases could potentially be prevented in the future. For more information: www.wcrf-uk.org
November 2013 Vol 133 No 6 l Perspectives in Public Health 287 Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at Purdue University on June 10, 2015
