Brookings and TRF Release Food Access of Metro Areas

Brookings Institution, in collaboration with TRF, has just released a new in-depth analysis on access to supermarkets in 10 large U.S. metropolitan areas: Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Cleveland, OH; Jackson, MS; Las Vegas, NV; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; Phoenix, AZ; and San Francisco-Oakland, CA. The analysis finds that nearly 2 million residents of low- and moderate-income communities in these metro areas lack access to a local supermarket.

The analysis and its results are discussed on a video, “Getting
to Market” and are available on an interactive map
powered by TRF’s PolicyMap platform. The analysis complements TRF’s broader work on food access, which estimates low access supermarket areas across the nation and can be found at www.trfund.com.

Getting to Market describes the important role that local supermarkets play in reducing food costs, expanding healthy food options, and promoting economic development for lower-income households and communities. It discusses how market obstacles limit supermarket access in some locations. The analysis estimates the retail opportunity in these low-access communities at a combined $2.6 billion annually.

These data and maps on PolicyMap can inform growing federal, state, and local efforts that are leveraging private capital to reduce barriers to supermarket development in neighborhoods where viable market opportunities exist.

The new analysis is part of Brookings’ High Cost of Being Poor project, supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This work complements prior TRF analyses supported by the Tides Foundation, which led to the
nationwide analysisnow freely available to any internet user through the PolicyMap platform.