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Indicator: Access to Fresh Food

Data and Data Discussion provided by Sustainable Seattle

Map 1: Distribution of Grocery Stores by CT Income

Chart 1: Cost of Market Basket in Dollars by Store Chain and Food Group

Map 2: Areas in Seattle at risk for food insecurity with areas that lack transit access to grocery stores

Map 3: Location of Farmers Markets, King County, 2009

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Upstream Indicators
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Downstream Indicators
  •   Adequate Food --- Compared to 2003, fewer adults (6.8% of the population) in 2007 reported that household food money often or sometimes did not last. Fewer people in East Region said their household food money often or sometimes did not last compared to Seattle, South Region or King County as a whole.  (view data graph)
  •   Physical and Mental Health Illness --- The percentage of King County adults with severe activity limitation increased between 1998 and 2007. This local finding is consistent with national trends. This local increase corresponds to worsening trends nationally.  (view data graph)
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Related Goals

A person's ability to buy fresh, local foods and make healthy living choices is dependent on the presence of supermarkets and farmer's markets in their neighborhood and the amount of money they have available to spend on food.

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Sustainability Snapshot:

What prevents the just distribution of food is a refection of both global and local inequalities associated with racial and class disparities. Both price and geographic proximity to grocery stores affects access to healthy and nutritious food. In many cities, low-income neighborhoods have fewer grocery stores than wealthier areas and there is less available produce and less fresh produce. To some extent, this is the pattern in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

Sustainability Trend:

Although most of Seattle has geographic access to a grocery store, many of these grocery stores do not have sufficient variety and supply of affordable high-quality food for their customers. Between 2004 and 2006, prices rose faster for fresh food compared to processed commodity foods. However, insufficient data exists to determine a trend.

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

Three measures are used to define accessibility: distribution of grocery stores by census tract income; price of market basket in dollars by store chain and store location; and quality of food available (e.g. nutrient density, freshness, organic) by store chain and location.

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

Geographic Access

Using data on grocery store locations and mass transit route and schedule information in Seattle, researchers calculated travel times from homes to supermarkets to estimate the accessibility of supermarkets for households that rely on transit for shopping trips. The results show that certain areas in Seattle lack adequate transit services to support grocery store access by households at high risk for food insecurity (Map 2). 

Highland Park, Georgetown, and South Park are areas in South Seattle where a large percentage of the population has a high risk of food insecurity (a shortage of resources to purchase an adequate healthy diet for all family members) and poor access.  Many upper and middle class neighborhoods also are not located within walking or easy transit distance to grocery stores, so residents must rely on personal automobiles to shop for food.

An encouraging counter trend has been the growth in the number of farmers markets, from 10 in Central Puget Sound in 2000 to 55 in 2008, giving people additional access to quality produce. In 2009, King County boasted 39 farmers markets.  However, most farmers markets are located in higher income neighborhoods (Map 3).

Price

A price comparison study of ‘market baskets’ bought from various grocery stores all over Seattle found that a market basket of 100 items at the low-cost grocery was nearly half the price of those same items at the high-price grocery (Chart 1). This same study also showed that the price of products does not change significantly from one branch to another of stores within the same chain, whether the branch is located in a high or low income neighborhood.

Research by a Seattle University professor indicates that the price of fresh produce at farmers markets is equal to or less than prices at nearby groceries.

Quality

The price disparity between market baskets from different groceries also helps to illustrate the fact that fresh and nutrient dense foods are more expensive than their less fresh and less healthy alternatives. The supermarkets generally considered to have the highest quality food (i.e. fresher and more nutrient dense options) are absent from South Seattle (Map 1). Not only are there no high-quality grocery stores in South Seattle, but the average resident in this area has access to many more convenience stores than grocery stores. Convenience stores do not make up for grocery stores; they are often more expensive and offer much less variety of healthy products to consumers, especially in terms of fresh produce and lean meat.

The nutritional value of one’s food is a new element that has recently been researched in conjunction with food security. A 2004 Seattle study found that foods which are less energy-dense (generally fresh fruits and vegetables) are much more expensive per calorie than energy-dense foods, those high in refined grains and added sugars and fats (3). When researchers surveyed prices again in 2006, they found that the disparity in food prices had gotten worse. Lower-calorie foods jumped in price by about 19.5 percent in that two-year period, while the prices of very calorie-rich foods stayed stable or even dropped slightly.

Data Source and Limitations

The data for this indicator was compiled by Sustainable Seattle from the reports The Search for Affordable Nutrient Rich Foods (Map 1 and Chart 1) and Mapping Food Insecurity and Access in Seattle and King County (Map 2).

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Additional Resources

  • Seattle Food System Enhancement Project
    This 2007 report assesses the Seattle food system on a neighborhood level. It focuses on specific neighborhoods' food resources and their geographic accessibility as well as the demographics and socioeconomic characteristics and experiences of the neighborhoods' residents.
  • (3) Price of lower-calorie foods rising drastically, UW researchers find
    This short article discusses the findings of a project supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in the National Institutes of Health. The UW researchers found that foods which are less energy-dense (generally fresh fruits and vegetables) are increasing in price much faster, per calorie, than energy-dense foods.