Planning for Food Access: A National Scan and Evaluation of Local Comprehensive Planning and Zoning

Low-income, underserved communities are often plagued with unhealthy food environments. A community’s comprehensive plan directly influences urban design and land-use regulations, which affect neighborhood food availability. While some local governments are including food access goals and policies in their local plans, little is understood about the quality, specificity and comprehensiveness of these goals and policies. More

Examining the Influence of Mobile Food Vendors on Food and Beverage Choices of Low-Income Mexican-American Children in Texas Colonias

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Mexican-American children is exceedingly high. Understanding the role of mobile food vendors in low-income, limited-resource Mexican-American colonia neighborhoods is critical. With the involvement of community partners and building on prior food environment projects within the colonias, the aim of this study is to assess the neighborhood and household More

Identifying and Evaluating Food Environment Changes Improving Access to Affordable Healthy Foods in Low-Income Communities

The goal of this research is to evaluate the Fresh to You (FTY) program, which aims to increase year-round access to affordable, high-quality, fresh fruits and vegetables for low-income families through implementation of year-round discount fruit and vegetable markets in community organizations. Specifically, this work will consist of (a) conducting process evaluations of FTY in More

Studying Spatial Associations Between the Density of Schools and the Density of Fast Food Outlets

The overall objectives of this project are to study inequality in New York City’s food environment, and more specifically, the distribution of fast food restaurants. Specifically, this project will study spatial associations between school density and fast food density, investigate environmental determinants of fast food density, and explore the circumstances in which fast food restaurateurs More