Adequate access to affordable, healthy food has long been a public health concern and has become a more pressing societal issue following the Great Recession and rising incidents of diet-related diseases. In response, research and government efforts have largely focused on identifying disadvantaged areas with poor food access and formulating policies to improve accessibility. However, the approaches that have been widely relied upon by researchers and practitioners for food access assessment are severely flawed, which may lead to inconsistent research findings or neglect of the needs of under-served/un-served neighborhoods. This dissertation identifies three important aspects of food access for improvement: the appropriate scale/neighborhoods for analysis, the use of food outlets as a proxy for affordable, healthy food; and the assessment method. In particular, three studies are conducted to: (1) examine how varying spatial scales and aggregation methods affect accessibility assessments; (2) explore the role of independent grocers, which have been neglected in previous food access studies as elements of the food landscape that may change the perception of food deserts; and (3) investigate how individual-level food access patterns compare to the widely used, area-based neighborhood measures of expected accessibility. While the dissertation discusses and addresses theoretical challenges in food access, the empirical studies conducted in the Tucson, Arizona metropolitan area contribute to a better understanding of the real-world complexity of food access. The results shed light on some predicaments identified in recent studies and have important policy implications for how best to efficiently and effectively design strategies and initiatives to enhance food-provision access.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T18:57:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5441.pdf: 826035 bytes, checksum: 28908325a1b709159489aa56763baa39 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-01 / This study sought to conceptually discuss organic farming, as part of agroecological science, and to assess its relationship with the current situation of supply of organic fruits and vegetables in different distribution channels in the city of Campinas-SP. The variables considered were price, form of product presentation, variety, packaging types, local production and certification. A comparison was performed with others grocers called "sanitized", "pre-washed", "selected" or "conventional" in this study were grouped under the name of "nonorganic". Ten points of sale was observed, eight hypermarkets, a Organic Fair and a Grocer Street Fair, typical of Brazil. All points are located within a radius of five kilometers from the city center. It was found that, despite the large growth of this market in Brazil, there is still a major bottleneck related to the presentation of products, the understanding of the organic concept, and accessibility to this product by consumers. / Buscou-se nesse estudo discutir conceitualmente a agricultura orgânica, como parte da ciência agroecológica, e avaliar sua relação com a situação atual da oferta de hortifrutícolas orgânicos em diferentes canais de distribuição na cidade de Campinas-SP. As variáveis consideradas nessa relação foram preço, forma de apresentação, variedade de itens, tipos de embalagens, local de produção e o tipo de certificação. Realizou-se uma comparação entre os hortifrutícolas orgânicos com outros hortifrutícolas denominados como higienizados , pré-lavados , selecionados e os vendidos a granel, agrupados nesse estudo sob a denominação de não-orgânicos . Foram observados dez pontos de comercialização, sendo oito hipermercados, uma feira orgânica e uma feira-livre. Todos os pontos estão localizados em um raio de cinco quilômetros do centro da cidade. Constatou-se que, apesar do expressivo crescimento desse mercado no Brasil, ainda existe um grande gargalo relacionado à apresentação dos produtos, à compreensão do conceito orgânico e à acessibilidade a esse produto por parte dos consumidores.