Changes in Food Environment Patterns in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico, 2010–2020

Ana Luisa Reyes-Puente, Dalia Guadalupe Peña-Portilla, Sofía Alcalá-Reyes, Laura Rodríguez-Bustos and Juan Manuel Núñez
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Ana Luisa Reyes-Puente: Environmental Sustainability, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico
Dalia Guadalupe Peña-Portilla: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Sofía Alcalá-Reyes: Environmental Sustainability, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico
Laura Rodríguez-Bustos: Environmental Sustainability, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico
Juan Manuel Núñez: Centro Transdisciplinar Universitario para la Sustentabilidad, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: The concept of food environment refers to the opportunities; environments; and physical, economic, political, and socio-cultural conditions that frame the interaction of people with the food system and shape decisions about food acquisition and consumption. This study analyzes the relationships between the characteristics of urban environments and the availability of retail food through the evaluation of physical and financial access to food in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (MAVM) between 2010 and 2020. Using Geographic Information Systems (GISs), both physical access through network distance to economic food retail units and financial access through socioeconomic status at the block scale were evaluated. The network distance and socioeconomic status results were used as criteria for the spatially explicit classification of the MAVM into food deserts, oases, and swamps. Food deserts are the most abundant food environments but only increased in the third and fourth metropolitan contours. Swamps have increased throughout the city, related to the proliferation of convenience stores that have replaced grocery stores. This study contributes evidence at a local and regional scale required for the future urban planning of the MAVM and for public health and sustainability programs focusing on treating food-related diseases.

Keywords: food environments; food deserts; food oases; food swamps; sustainable food system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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