Mapping Food Insecurity in Cumberland County, Maine
About
the project
Food security definitions
Maps and data
Project report
Food mapping links
Feedback
About the project
Project description: A variety of public service agencies serving Cumberland County are interested in the nexus of food insecurity with public health and local food systems. But in the absence of easily accessible and consolidated data, it can be challenging to target agency efforts. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide a means to describe visually and to analyze data. This project developed a GIS-based framework using open-source data inputs to depict as accurately as possible multiple facets of food insecurity in Cumberland County. The impetus for the project came from a recommendation made by the 2010 Campaign to Promote Food Security (http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/cpfs/).
The project was funded by the Good Shepherd Food-Bank and Healthy Lakes Communities Putting Prevention to Work, a health promotion program of the People’s Regional Opportunity Program, and was housed at the Muskie School of Public Service.
Purpose: The purpose of the project was to cast a broad net for gathering food system related data, to place that data in geographic context by mapping it in multiple ways at the highest level of detail possible, and to make the data easily accessible. An important secondary outcome is the development of a platform for analysis and inquiry (see ‘next steps’ below). We used as a model the Center for Community GIS Greater Franklin County Community Health Status Maps project (http://www.community-gis.org/projects/gfcmaps.html).
Goals:
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Network existing efforts and encourage data-sharing and communication.
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Build a localized model for capturing, mapping, distributing, and updating relevant data that is transparent, user-friendly, and replicable within the scope determined by the project team and the clients to be achievable. Verify specified data and develop base maps.
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Ensure sustainability by locating a host agency and web-based distribution platform, convening an advisory board, and training all interested agencies in methods and analysis.
Next steps: The project team believes
that this project could serve as a pilot to create a statewide food system
data hub and to develop the analytic components of the GIS-platform to
respond to particular food system related inquiries.
Project team:
Daniel Wallace, Project Director, daniel.wallace1@maine.edu
Corey Gray, GIS Analyst, corey.l.gray@maine.edu
Dr. Mark Lapping, Executive Director, Muskie School of Public Service
Dr. Matthew Bampton, Associate Professor of Geography, University of Southern
Maine
Dr. Rick Small, President and CEO, Good Shepherd Food-Bank
Emily Wolff, MPH, CPPW Program Manager, People’s Regional Opportunity
Program (PROP)
Adam Burk, MA, CPPW Program Coordinator, PROP
Tracy Weber, MS, CPPW Program Coordinator, PROP
Bria White, CPPW Program Coordinator, PROP
Food security definitions
Definitions used by the USDA
(http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/labels.htm)
Food security for a household means
access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy
life. Food security includes at a minimum: (1) the ready availability
of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, (2) and the assured ability
to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without
resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping
strategies).
Food insecurity is the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.
An alternative food security
definition
(http://whyhunger.org/programs/fslc.html)
Strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access
to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for all people
at all times.
Another view: Community food
security
(http://www.foodsecurity.org/views_cfs_faq.html)
A condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally
appropriate, nutritionally sound diet through an economically and environmentally
sustainable food system that promotes community self-reliance and social
justice.
Maps and data
Please note: Multiple data sets were acquired from the U.S. Census and thus rely upon federal definitions, e.g. poverty or disability status. For more information, please visit http://factfinder2.census.gov/main.html.
Static Maps and Posters
The static maps and posters are visual depictions of the data
that the project team collected and organized in complementary ways. Posters
incorporate text to help interpret or embellish the maps, as well as some
quick facts to highlight specific pieces of information. Brief descriptions
of each map are listed below.
Download Maps in
PDF
Download Posters in PDF
The Emergency Food System: This map shows the locations of emergency food services.
Vulnerable Populations and Select Food Insecurity Rates: This compilation of micro-maps depicts various proxies often used for the food insecure: geographic concentration of particular populations such as the elderly or single-parent households and rates (percents) of certain indicators such as poverty or school food eligibility.
Access to Fresh Food: This map shows many of the locations where a consumer can go to purchase fresh food. It is important to note that it says nothing about the quality or cost of the food at the location. Further, without a car, many of these locations are inaccessible. Public transportation is limited to the greater Portland area. Therefore, the apparent density of locations in some part of the county does not necessarily imply convenience.
Production Resources and Farms: Access to the water (ocean) and appropriate soils is necessary for production in Cumberland County. This map is a starting point for visualizing existing resources.
Processing and Institutional Procurement: Institutions represent a large potential market for farmers. However, institutions cannot generally purchase raw product. Thus processing infrastructure is necessary to enable local purchasing.
Communities Feeding Themselves: Many communities are taking steps to grow or procure their own food locally. This map portrays the locations of community and school gardens as well as coops and buying clubs.
KMLs
These maps use Google Earth (download at http://www.google.com/earth/index.html)
to place physical places in ‘real space.’ This enables the
user to get directions to and from each location. In addition, some attributes
– information relevant to each location – are connected to
each place.
Interactive map
This clickable PDF enables the user to interact with certain data
sets. Layers in the map can be turned on and off, and thus the user can
create a customized map. The map can then be saved, exported, and emailed
or printed.
Download Interactive Map
Download User Instructions
Raw data
The raw data is available here in excel spreadsheets. Each spreadsheet
contains the data source, date at which it was collected, and any relevant
additional notes (metadata).
Project report
The project report explains the methodology used by the project team and compiles data and sourcing into quick reference tables. It acknowledges the many people who made the project possible and offers some suggestions as to how the maps might be interpreted, used, or more fully developed. It is intended to be a quick overview of the project so that others might benefit from the lessons learned and have a readily accessible work plan for similar efforts.
Food mapping links
Maine
Maine Food Map: http://www.eatmainefoods.org/page/maine-food-map
Island Institute, Mapping Maine’s Working Waterfront: http://www.islandinstitute.org/publications/Mapping-Maines-Working-Waterfront/12270/
Center for Community GIS Greater Franklin County Community Health Status
Maps project: http://www.community-gis.org/projects/gfcmaps.html
National
Feeding America: http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-studies/map-the-meal-gap.aspx
USDA ERS Food Environment Atlas: http://maps.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/
USDA ERS Food Desert Locator: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/fooddesert.html
The Reinvestment Fund Low Access Area Mapping: http://www.trfund.com/TRF-LAA-widget.html
Tufts GIS Resources, Food Access and Food Security: https://wikis.uit.tufts.edu/confluence/display/GIS/Food+Access,+Food+Security+Analysis,+Food+Waste+Recycling
Cornell University Library Guide, scroll down for Spatial Analysis and
Mapping of Food Systems: http://guides.library.cornell.edu/content.php?pid=84833&sid=639443#5792402
A few specific programs or projects
Community Food System Explorer, Virginia Cooperative Extension: http://www.cv.ext.vt.edu/topics/ComFoodSystems/com_food_explorer/index.html
New York City Coalition Against Hunger Poverty
and Food Access Interactive Map: http://www.nyccah.org/files/interactive_map.pdf
UNH, Food Solutions New England, Food System Scenario Tool: http://www.foodsolutionsne.org/
Vermont Energy Atlas http://www.vtenergyatlas.com/#
(Model for a food atlas to be developed by Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund)
Carsey Institute, Finding and Affording Healthy Foods in New Hampshire
Communities: http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB_Stracuzzi-Ward_Healthy_Food.pdf
Seattle-King County FPC, Mapping Food Insecurity and Access: http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/documents/AFPCFoodAccessIssuePaperNo.4_000.pdf
Baltimarket:
The Virtual Supermarket Project and Community Food Availability Map: http://www.baltimorehealth.org/virtualsupermarket.html
Feedback
Please submit any questions or feedback to Daniel Wallace at daniel.wallace1@maine.edu. Comments and ideas for improvement are greatly appreciated. This is a work in progress. It is hoped that this effort will ultimately contribute to a broadly accessible tool to assist food-system related decision making on both a local and regional level.