Measuring Food Insecurity Using the Food Abundance Index: Implications for Economic, Health and Social Well-Being

Audrey Murrell and Ray Jones
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Audrey Murrell: School of Business and David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
Ray Jones: School of Business and David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: High levels of food insecurity signal the presence of disparities and inequities in local food access, which have been shown to negatively impact the health and well-being of individuals and communities. However, the approaches used to define and measure high food insecurity, also known as a “food desert”, vary widely across research study and intervention methodology. This paper describes the development and validation of a measurement tool called the “Food Abundance Index” (FAI) which is a scorecard for assessing levels of food insecurity across five key dimensions: access, diversity, quality, density, and affordability. A pilot study was conducted to examine levels of food insecurity in order to test the extent to which the FAI can detect food deserts. Nine neighborhoods were selected based on the demographic characteristics of communities shown to be related to food insecurity. Our findings provide evidence that the Food Abundance Index provides a robust measurement tool to assess the extent of food insecurity within a community or neighborhood. Thus, this multidimensional scorecard can be used in future research to detect levels of food insecurity within urban areas and help to bridge the gap between academics, policymakers and practitioners in this important area.

Keywords: food insecurity; food policy; sustainable food systems; social responsibility; social inequalities; health outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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