The Food Access Research Atlas presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility, provides food access data for populations within census tracts, and offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes.

The table Food Access Research Atlas Data 2015 is part of the dataset USDA Food Access Research Atlas, available at https://redivis.com/datasets/prgb-c86a3nmy9. It contains 72864 rows across 147 variables.

Food Access Research Atlas 2017

  Food Access Research atlas - Census tract-level overview of food access indicators using different measures of supermarket accessibility. Released 2017, data primarily from 2010 census. About USDA Food Security and Allocations Data: Links to several different USDA food security and allocations datasets, including a Census-level Food Access Research Atlas, county-level SNAP participation data through FY2020, and state-level total participant counts from FY2015 through FY2019 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Food Distribution Program.
  Geography Level: State, County, Census TractItem Vintage: 2017
  Update Frequency: N/AAgency: USDAAvailable File Type: Excel 

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Limited access to supermarkets, supercenters, grocery stores, or other sources of healthy and affordable food may make it harder for some Americans to eat a healthy diet. Expanding the availability of nutritious and affordable food by developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers, corner markets and farmers’ markets in communities with limited access is an important part of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. There are many ways to define which areas are considered "food deserts" and many ways to measure food store access for individuals and for neighborhoods. Most measures and definitions take into account at least some of the following indicators of access:

• Accessibility to sources of healthy food, as measured by distance to a store or by the number of stores in an area.
• Individual-level resources that may affect accessibility, such as family income or vehicle availability.
• Neighborhood-level indicators of resources, such as the average income of the neighborhood and the availability of public transportation.

In the Food Access Research Atlas, several options are available to describe food access along these dimensions. The Food Access Research Atlas presents a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility. It provides food access data for populations within census tracts and offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes. This Atlas can be used to create maps showing food access indicators by census tract using different measures and indicators of supermarket accessibility. It can be used to compare food access measures based on 2015 data with the previous 2010 measures, view indicators of food access for selected subpopulations, and download census-tract-level data on food access measures.

Dataset is an overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility. This dataset provides food access data for populations within census tracts; and offers census-tract-level data on food access that can be used for community planning or research purposes.Data from USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) Food Access Research Atlas, 2019. Last updated 4/27/2021.See also USDA map service at https://gisportal.ers.usda.gov/server/rest/services/FARA/FARA_2019/MapServer.

Percentage of total population within a designated area that is identified as both “low income” and having “low access” to healthy food. Low income is defined as Low income is defined as having an annual family income at or below 200 percent of the Federal poverty threshold. Low access is defined as population that is beyond 1 mile for urban areas or 10 miles for rural areas from a supermarket.

Note that there are many ways to measure food access for individuals and for neighborhoods, and many ways to define which areas are food deserts (neighborhoods that lack healthy food sources). Explore the USDA Food Access Research Atlas for more information: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/.

United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service’s Food Access Research Atlas maps census tracts that are considered to be both low income and low access. The Atlas provides different ways to understand characteristics that can contribute to food deserts, including income level, distance to supermarkets, and vehicle access. The low access and distance measure extracted from the Food Access Research Atlas, and displayed on the Maryland Food System Map, is low income and low access measured at ½ mile and 10 miles. The Food Access Research Atlas defines this measure as being a low-income census tract with at least 500 people or 33 percent of the population living more than ½ mile (urban areas) or more than 10 miles (rural areas) from the nearest supermarket. A low-income census tract is defined as a having either a poverty rate of 42 percent or more, or a median family income less than 80 percent of the State-wide median family income; or a tract in a metropolitan area with a median family income less than 80 percent of the surrounding metropolitan area medium family income. A census tract is urban if its geographic centroid is in an area with more than 2,500 people. All other tracts are rural.

Data source: United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Date: 2013

All of the ERS mapping applications, such as the Food Environment Atlas and the Food Access Research Atlas, use map services developed and hosted by ERS as the source for their map content. These map services are open and freely available for use outside of the ERS map applications. Developers can include ERS maps in applications through the use of the map service REST API, and desktop GIS users can use the maps by connecting to the map server directly.

2015 USDA Food Desert areas for Florida defined by 2010 US Census tract. Based on LILATract_1And10 field census data. Developed by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) as part of the Food Access Research Atlas.This service is intended for use with popups or at very large scales.This data layer is part of Florida’s Roadmap to Living Healthy web map produced by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness (DFNW).For technical assistance, contact the Florida's Roadmap to Healthy Living Administrator

These data map areas that are both low income and have low access to food. The data shows areas (Census Tracts) that meet a criteria of low income and low access at 1 and 10 miles. This determination is provided by the US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (ERS), Food Access Research Atlas.

Food environment factors--such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics--interact to influence food choices and diet quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships and effective policy interventions. The objectives of the Atlas are to assemble statistics on food environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet quality, and to provide a spatial overview of a community's ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so.

This layer contains Census Tracts that have been designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones and contains additional data determined by the EPA to be of interest to users who are seeking revitalization-oriented information about these tracts. Based on nominations of eligible census tracts by the Chief Executive Officers of each State, Treasury has completed its designation of Qualified Opportunity Zones. Each State nominated the maximum number of eligible tracts, per statute, and these designations are final. The statute and legislative history of the Opportunity Zone designations, under IRC § 1400Z, do not contemplate an opportunity for additional or revised designations after the maximum number of zones allowable have been designated in a State or Territory. The data in this layer was updated in January 2021. For more information on Opportunity Zones, please visit: https://www.cdfifund.gov/Pages/Opportunity-Zones.aspx

EPA has added these indicators to the QOZ tracts list:

1. Count of Superfund facilities from EPA National Priorities List (NPL). Count was generated by performing spatial join of Tract boundaries to NPL points—yielding per tract counts. Spatial Extent: all US states and territories. Source: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-data-and-reports

2. Count of Brownfields properties from EPA Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES). Count was generated by performing spatial join of Tract boundaries to ACRES points--yielding per tract counts. Spatial Extent: all US states and territories. Source: https://edap-oei-data-commons.s3.amazonaws.com/EF/GIS/EF_ACRES.csv

3. Technical Assistance Communities from EPA Office of Community Revitalization (OCR). 13 layers were merged into one; count was generated by performing spatial join of Tract boundaries to combined point layer—yielding per tract counts. Please note that technical assistance communities are often serving areas larger than a single Census tract. Please contact OCR with questions. Spatial Extent: all US states and territories. Source: https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=b8795575db194340a4ad1c251e4d6ca1

4. Lead Paint Index from Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool (EJSCREEN). Block group-level values were population weighted and summed to produce a tract-level estimate. The “raw” values were converted to tract-level percentiles. Spatial Extent: all US states and Puerto Rico. Source: https://gaftp.epa.gov/EJSCREEN/2019/

5. Air Toxics Respiratory Index from EJSCREEN. Block group-level values were population weighted and summed to produce a tract-level estimate. The “raw” values were converted to tract-level percentiles. Spatial Extent: all US states and Puerto Rico. Source: https://gaftp.epa.gov/EJSCREEN/2019/

6. Demographic Index Indicator from EJSCREEN. Block group-level values were population weighted and summed to produce a tract-level estimate. The “raw” values were converted to tract-level percentiles. Spatial Extent: all US states and Puerto Rico. Source: https://gaftp.epa.gov/EJSCREEN/2019/

7. Estimated Floodplain Indicator from EPA EnviroAtlas. Floodplain raster was converted to polygon feature class; Y/N indicator was generated by performing a spatial join of Tract boundaries to the Floodplain polygons. Spatial Extent: Continental US. Source: https://gaftp.epa.gov/epadatacommons/ORD/EnviroAtlas/Estimated_floodplain_CONUS.zip

8. National Walkability Index from EPA Smart Location Tools. The National Walkability Index is a nationwide geographic data resource that ranks block groups according to their relative walkability. Tract values assigned by averaging values from block group-level table. Spatial Extent: all US states and territories. Source: EPA Office of Policy—2020 NWI update

9. Impaired Waters Indicator from EPA Office of Water (OW). Y/N indicator was generated by performing spatial joins of Tract boundaries to 3 separate impaired waters layers (point, line and polygon). Y was assigned for all intersected geographies. Extent: all US states and Puerto Rico. Source: https://watersgeo.epa.gov/GEOSPATIALDOWNLOADS/rad_303d_20150501_fgdb.zip

10. Tribal Areas Indicator from EPA. Y/N indicator was generated by performing spatial joins of Tract boundaries to 4 separate Tribal areas layers (Alaska Native Villages, Alaska Allotments, Alaska Reservations, Lower 48 Tribes). Y as assigned for all intersected geographies. Spatial Extent: Alaska and Continental US. Source: https://edg.epa.gov/data/PUBLIC/OEI/OIAA/TRIBES/EPAtribes.zip

11. Count of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action facilities. Count was generated by performing spatial join of Tract boundaries to Corrective Action points—yielding per tract counts. Spatial Extent: all US states and territories. Source: https://www.epa.gov/cleanups/cimc-web-map-service-and-more

12. Count of Toxics Release Inventory facilities from EPA. Count was generated by performing spatial join of Tract boundaries to TRI points—yielding per tract counts. Spatial Extent: all US states and territories. Source: https://edap-oei-data-commons.s3.amazonaws.com/EF/GIS/EF_TRI.csv

13. Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) Housing/Transportation Index from CDC, published in 2018. The Housing/Transportation Index includes ACS 2014-2018 data on crowding in housing and no access to vehicle, among others. County values assigned to tracts by joining Tracts to county-level table. For detailed documentation: https://svi.cdc.gov/Documents/Data/2018_SVI_Data/SVI2018Documentation.pdfSpatial Extent: all US states. Source: https://epa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=cbd68d9887574a10bc89ea4efe2b8087

14. Low Access to Food Store Indicator from USDA Food Access Atlas. Y/N indicator was generated by performing a table join of Tracts to the Food Access table records meeting the test criteria. Spatial Extent: all US states. Source: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/download-the-data/

15. Overall Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) from CDC. Values (RPL_THEMES) assigned by joining the Tract boundaries to source Tract-level table. Spatial Extent: All US states. Source: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/data_documentation_download.html

16. Rural Communities Indicator from USDA Economic Research Service (ERS). Source tract-level table was flagged as rural where RUCA Codes in 4-10 or 2 and 3 where area >= 400 sq. miles and pop density

Low income census tract designation as per criteria for identifying a census tract as low income from the Department of Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. Guidelines defined as census tract exceeding 20% population under Federal Poverty Level or median family income below 80% of state or metro area median. Derived from U.S. Census American Community Survey 5 YR 2011-2015 tables; B17001 and B19113. Metadata information provided at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/documentation/

National Food Insecurity percentage 1995-2018

  National yearly Food Insecurity percentage, 1995-2018 About USDA Food Security and Allocations Data: Links to several different USDA food security and allocations datasets, including a Census-level Food Access Research Atlas, county-level SNAP participation data through FY2020, and state-level total participant counts from FY2015 through FY2019 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Food Distribution Program.
  Geography Level: NationalItem Vintage: 1995-2018
  Update Frequency: YearlyAgency: USDAAvailable File Type: Excel 

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Commodity Supplemental Food Program Data FY 2015-2019

  Data from the USDA about the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. Data is broken out by state and contains the total participant counts from FY 2015 through FY 2019. About USDA Food Security and Allocations Data: Links to several different USDA food security and allocations datasets, including a Census-level Food Access Research Atlas, county-level SNAP participation data through FY2020, and state-level total participant counts from FY2015 through FY2019 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Food Distribution Program.
  Geography Level: StateItem Vintage: 2015-2019
  Update Frequency: Updated through 2019Agency: USDAAvailable File Type: Excel 

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Emergency Food Assistance Program Data FY 2015-2019

  Data from the USDA about the Emergency Food Assistance Program. Data is broken out by state and contains the total cost of food from FY 2015 through FY 2019. About USDA Food Security and Allocations Data: Links to several different USDA food security and allocations datasets, including a Census-level Food Access Research Atlas, county-level SNAP participation data through FY2020, and state-level total participant counts from FY2015 through FY2019 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Food Distribution Program.
  Geography Level: StateItem Vintage: 2015-2019
  Update Frequency: Updated through 2020Agency: USDAAvailable File Type: Excel 

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SNAP Participation Data FY1989-2020

  SNAP participation data - FY 1989 through January 2020 by County About USDA Food Security and Allocations Data: Links to several different USDA food security and allocations datasets, including a Census-level Food Access Research Atlas, county-level SNAP participation data through FY2020, and state-level total participant counts from FY2015 through FY2019 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Food Distribution Program.
  Geography Level: State, CountyItem Vintage: 1989-2020
  Update Frequency: N/AAgency: USDAAvailable File Type: Excel 

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Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations Data FY 2015-2019

  Data from the USDA about the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. Data is broken out by state and contains the total participant counts from FY 2015 through FY 2019. About USDA Food Security and Allocations Data: Links to several different USDA food security and allocations datasets, including a Census-level Food Access Research Atlas, county-level SNAP participation data through FY2020, and state-level total participant counts from FY2015 through FY2019 for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Emergency Food Assistance Program, and Food Distribution Program.
  Geography Level: StateItem Vintage: 2015-2019
  Update Frequency: Updated through 2021Agency: USDAAvailable File Type: Excel 

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