Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice
The retail food environment is becoming an increasingly important consideration in land use planning decisions. Although many municipal official (or comprehensive) plans call for improved food environments, there are no standard methods by which to assess the implementation of policies reflecting th...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
2016-07-01
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Series: | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/83 |
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author | Leia Minaker Pat Fisher Kim Raine Lawrence Frank |
author_facet | Leia Minaker Pat Fisher Kim Raine Lawrence Frank |
author_sort | Leia Minaker |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The retail food environment is becoming an increasingly important consideration in land use planning decisions. Although many municipal official (or comprehensive) plans call for improved food environments, there are no standard methods by which to assess the implementation of policies reflecting these priorities. Methods developed to assess policy enforcement should be feasible to implement by urban planners and developers, should show some correlation between food environments and residents' health or diet outcomes, and should consider a more nuanced view of food environments than solely focusing on food access. In this paper we review food environment characteristics, theories and conceptual models, and assessment methods with goal of presenting theoretical bases for the selection of food environment assessment tools by public health planners and other practitioners. We examine methods to assess food environments and discuss potential adaptations of the methods to suit the needs of urban planners. A case study of the region of Waterloo is presented to illuminate the potential of food environment assessments for healthy public policy enforcement. Finally we describe implications for public health and urban planning. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:59:10Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-67df10430a6d452abbfa5994984def29 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2152-0801 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:59:10Z |
publishDate | 2016-07-01 |
publisher | Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
spelling | doaj.art-67df10430a6d452abbfa5994984def292023-06-02T00:01:22ZengLyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsJournal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development2152-08012016-07-012110.5304/jafscd.2011.021.02183Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning PracticeLeia Minaker0Pat Fisher1Kim Raine2Lawrence Frank3University of AlbertaRegion of Waterloo Public HealthUniversity of AlbertaUniversity of British ColumbiaThe retail food environment is becoming an increasingly important consideration in land use planning decisions. Although many municipal official (or comprehensive) plans call for improved food environments, there are no standard methods by which to assess the implementation of policies reflecting these priorities. Methods developed to assess policy enforcement should be feasible to implement by urban planners and developers, should show some correlation between food environments and residents' health or diet outcomes, and should consider a more nuanced view of food environments than solely focusing on food access. In this paper we review food environment characteristics, theories and conceptual models, and assessment methods with goal of presenting theoretical bases for the selection of food environment assessment tools by public health planners and other practitioners. We examine methods to assess food environments and discuss potential adaptations of the methods to suit the needs of urban planners. A case study of the region of Waterloo is presented to illuminate the potential of food environment assessments for healthy public policy enforcement. Finally we describe implications for public health and urban planning.https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/83Built EnvironmentFood EnvironmentHealthy CommunitiesPolicy AssessmentUrban Planning |
spellingShingle | Leia Minaker Pat Fisher Kim Raine Lawrence Frank Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Built Environment Food Environment Healthy Communities Policy Assessment Urban Planning |
title | Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice |
title_full | Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice |
title_fullStr | Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice |
title_full_unstemmed | Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice |
title_short | Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice |
title_sort | measuring the food environment from theory to planning practice |
topic | Built Environment Food Environment Healthy Communities Policy Assessment Urban Planning |
url | https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/83 |
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