Exploring the food landscape in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, MI: Neighborhood racial characteristics and food availability

<p>The neighborhood retail food environment is an indicator of short- and long-term health conditions. Disparities in Covid-19 health outcomes have been identified as specifically impacting minority populations in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, MI. This study explores these cities' neighborhood retail food environments alongside neighborhood racial composition with three measures: Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI), Grocery Store Density, and Fast-Food Density. This study's purpose is to determine whether racial composition predicts the food environment and therefore may contribute to poor health outcomes. The results indicate that high Asian population has a significant relationship to healthier food environments while high Black population is related to low neighborhood fast-food density. Generally, neighborhoods with a high Black population show worse food environment characteristics, while a high Asian population was linked to healthier food environments. Moving forward, further research is needed on this subject to determine the extent to which these findings influence Covid-19 health outcomes.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Year dc:date.available

2021

Author dc:creator

• Srygley, Sara L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Grigoris Argeros, Ph.D.
• Robert Orrange, Ph.D.

• Food Access
• Food Security
• Neighbor Racial Characteristics
• Neighborhood Food Environment
• Racial Disparities
• Retail Food Environment
• Sociology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1105

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2483