PreprintArticleVersion 1Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
The Impact of Public Transportation Systems on Food Insecurity for Women in Allegheny County: A Call to Improve Well-Being within the Built Environment
Version 1
: Received: 8 September 2023 / Approved: 11 September 2023 / Online: 11 September 2023 (07:18:37 CEST)
How to cite:
Firestine, A.; Murrell, A. J. The Impact of Public Transportation Systems on Food Insecurity for Women in Allegheny County: A Call to Improve Well-Being within the Built Environment. Preprints2023, 2023090636. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.0636.v1
Firestine, A.; Murrell, A. J. The Impact of Public Transportation Systems on Food Insecurity for Women in Allegheny County: A Call to Improve Well-Being within the Built Environment. Preprints 2023, 2023090636. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.0636.v1
Firestine, A.; Murrell, A. J. The Impact of Public Transportation Systems on Food Insecurity for Women in Allegheny County: A Call to Improve Well-Being within the Built Environment. Preprints2023, 2023090636. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.0636.v1
APA Style
Firestine, A., & Murrell, A. J. (2023). The Impact of Public Transportation Systems on Food Insecurity for Women in Allegheny County: A Call to Improve Well-Being within the Built Environment. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.0636.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Firestine, A. and Audrey J. Murrell. 2023 "The Impact of Public Transportation Systems on Food Insecurity for Women in Allegheny County: A Call to Improve Well-Being within the Built Environment" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202309.0636.v1
Abstract
Food insecurity is a pervasive issue for Allegheny County as one in five residents experience food insecurity. Food insecurity is linked to chronic health conditions like heart disease and hypertension and disproportionately affects women in the United States, particularly women who are head of household. There are multiple dimensions used to measure regional food insecurity, one of which is food accessibility. Prior research has examined the linkages between food access and food insecurity, and this study aims to further explore the relationship between equitable access to sustainable food and levels of regional food insecurity. This study examines food outlets in Allegheny County to determine if there is a significant relationship between food outlet availability and food insecurity. Both the presence and accessibility of these food outlets were examined. To measure accessibility, the walking distance to the nearest public transportation stop was calculated for each public transportation stop. The minimum distance to each food outlet was compared to food insecurity rates on a Census Tract level. Results showed that communities without grocery stores did, on average, have higher rates of food insecurity. Also, communities with a higher proportion of female-headed households experienced greater food insecurity, regardless of access to food outlets. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the distance from public transportation stops to grocery stores and rates of food insecurity. Based on these findings, we suggest that sole reliance on distance as an indicator of food insecurity can be misleading, and there should be a greater focus on walkability within the community as using opposed to physical distance alone.
Keywords
food insecurity; built environment; gender equality; well-being; disparities; food systems; social sustainability; transportation; walkability
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Business and Management
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
