Structural racism and geographic access to food retailers in the United States: A scoping review

Chelsea R Singleton; Laura A Wright; Meredith McDonald; Isabel G Archer; Caryn N Bell; Gabriella M McLoughlin; Bailey Houghtaling; Kristen Cooksey Stowers; Elizabeth Anderson Steeves

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103089

Structural racism and geographic access to food retailers in the United States: A scoping review

Health Place. 2023 Sep:83:103089. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103089. Epub 2023 Aug 7.

Authors

Chelsea R Singleton¹, Laura A Wright², Meredith McDonald³, Isabel G Archer³, Caryn N Bell³, Gabriella M McLoughlin⁴, Bailey Houghtaling⁵, Kristen Cooksey Stowers⁶, Elizabeth Anderson Steeves⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences, Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. Electronic address: csingle1@tulane.edu.
² Rudolph Matas Library of the Health Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
³ Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences, Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁴ Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁵ Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, Omaha, NE, USA; Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
⁶ Department of Allied Health Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health, And Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
⁷ Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, Omaha, NE, USA.

PMID: 37557002
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103089

Abstract

This scoping review summarized findings and key measures from U.S.-based studies that 1) examined associations between geographic indicators of structural racism (e.g., redlining, racial segregation) and access to food retailers (e.g., supermarkets, convenience stores) or 2) documented disparities in access by neighborhood racial/ethnic composition. In 2022, relevant scientific literature was reviewed using Covidence software. Independent reviewers examined 13,069 citations; 163 citations advanced to the full-text review stage and 70 were selected for inclusion. Twenty-one studies (30%) linked one or more indicator of structural racism to food retailer access while 49 (70%) solely examined differences in access by neighborhood racial/ethnic composition. All studies featuring indicators of structural racism reported significant findings; however, indicators varied across studies making it difficult to make direct comparisons. Key indicators of structural racism in the food access literature included redlining (n = 3), gentrification (n = 3), and racial segregation (n = 4). Many U.S.-based studies have evaluated food retailer access by neighborhood racial/ethnic composition. Moving forward, studies should model indicators of structural racism and determine their influence on geographic access to large and small food retailers.

Keywords: Food environment; Gentrification; Grocery store; Racial segregation; Redlining; structural racism.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Food
Humans
Racism*
Residential Segregation
Social Segregation*
Systemic Racism
United States