24th Annual Student Research Conference
Location, Location, Location: Assessing the Availability and Cost of Groceries in Rural Northeast Missouri
Amanda W. Brown
Dr. Amber Johnson, Dr. Julie Flowerday, and Dr. Charles Barrow, Faculty Mentors
Communities with no or distant stores and communities with an imbalance of healthy food options are known as food deserts. Previous research has shown that low-income individuals or families living within these areas may face higher food prices than faced by people in other areas and several studies have confirmed negative health consequences of living in these food deserts. These studies have focused on urban areas. This study examines these problems within the rural context by recording the price and availability of groceries from a standard grocery list in eight communities in northeast Missouri. The findings demonstrate that the higher the percentage of missing items, the higher the average price of items. This was significant because communities with small populations usually have smaller grocery stores with fewer available items. There was also a relationship between the number of highways and the availability of meat items; the percent of items missing in the meat category increases as the population and the number of highways decrease.
Keywords: food insecurity, food deserts, rural health, rural poverty, thrifty food plan, nutrition, healthy diet, low income
Topic(s):Sociology/Anthropology
Health Science
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 2-1
Location: Georgian Room - SUB
Time: 4:30