Refining large-scale spatial metrics of food access

Large scale metrics of food access are frequently used to identify spatial inequities and for targeting local government intervention. The Food Access Research Atlas by the USDA and the Modified Retail Food Environment Index by the CDC are two such measures frequently used at the census-tract level. This paper uses spatial analyses to identify ways in which they can be refined for better actionability. Outcomes from this paper are threefold: (i) Upon examination of the average food environment, it finds that we might be undercounting rural census tracts with low food access relative to urban tracts; (ii) Disaggregating the often-conflated goals of physical access for food equity and nutritional access for public health might help targeting interventions; (iii) Data on food environments, and underlying assumptions on food consumption behavior should be investigated with greater caution. •Rural areas of low food access are undercounted relative to urban areas.•Policies should distinguish between physical access and nutritional access.•There are large variations in data sources underlying food access.