Food Mapping and Food Deserts in St. Lawrence County, NY

Michael Trumbower, Adria Bregani, Carol Cady

Food deserts have been described as areas with little or no access to healthy foods versus fast food.  Food deserts are thought to contribute to an unhealthy population because of poor diet.  Limited access is caused by any combination of three factors: 1) distance to stores, 2) financial access to healthy food, and 3) the consumer’s knowledge about preparing and eating healthy food.  Food deserts have been identified in urban areas such as Chicago or New York City in association with the lack of neighborhood supermarkets, but they can also occur in rural areas where the distance to supermarkets and lack of public transportation make it difficult for low income individuals to acquire healthy food.

 At St. Lawrence University students in the Environmental Studies course Going Locavore examined the availability of low cost healthy food or fair food at the county level.  St. Lawrence County is large and rural with a 15.9% poverty rate in 2007.   Students geocoded food sources such as farms, supermarkets and convenience stores and identified areas of high food availability with a density surface.  Food availability was compared to population density, poverty threshold and land suitable for farming based on elevation.  Areas with low availability were identified in the southern part of the county.