COMMUNITY OWNED FOOD CO-OPS
Fresh and healthy food can be difficult for some Montrealers to access, new Concordia study shows
The researchers say city planners must support the development of more grocery stores and improve transportation options in food deserts
Concordia University
image:
Sepideh Khorramisarvestani
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Fresh, affordable and nutritious food is an essential human need. But for many city-dwellers, accessing it can be difficult and time-consuming, especially for those who are elderly or have mobility challenges. This is true even in Montreal, a city that prides itself on its active transportation network and compact population distribution.
In a new study published in the Journal of Urban Mobility, Concordia researchers examine how walking, cycling and public transit shape access to fresh and healthy food.
They found that nearly half of Montrealers do not have adequate access to fresh food sources like grocery stores or produce markets within a 10-minute walk from their home or place of work. That number improves for cyclists, but the researchers say the best chance of accessing healthy food comes from a combination of active transportation and public transit.
“We wanted to better understand the connection between public transportation and daily needs,” says the study’s lead author Sepideh Khorramisarvestani, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment. “These results show us that we can greatly increase accessibility to healthy food by locating grocery stores close to public transit. This ensures people can get necessities on their way home from work.”
Options by foot, bike or transit
The researchers used an advanced routing algorithm to develop their model. They mapped where people live at the city-block level and matched this with the verified locations of nearly 1,000 healthy food establishments, such as grocery stores and fruit and vegetable markets. Convenience stores and restaurants were excluded from the study, since the nutritional value of the food they offer is inconsistent.
The algorithm calculated how many healthy food stores residents could reach using three travel scenarios: walking only, cycling only and a combination of walking or cycling plus public transit. Travel times included realistic factors such as walking to transit stops, waiting, transfers and final walking distances.
Areas where five or more stores were located along a given travel route were considered to have strong access. Areas with two or fewer stores were considered to have poor access.
The researchers considered a healthy food establishment “locally accessible” if it was within a 10-minute walk or bike ride from home or work, assuming the person is a healthy, able-bodied adult. For longer trips, they used a 30-minute window that combined active travel with public transit.
As expected, neighbourhoods in Montreal’s downtown core and other densely populated areas near the city centre had adequate to good access to fresh, healthy food. Proximity to metro lines, busy commercial streets and strong walking, cycling and transit facilities characterized these areas.
Less well-served areas include neighbourhoods in western and southwestern Montreal, Montréal-Nord, as well as eastern and suburban areas, which offered poor access for walking alone. These neighbourhoods were characterized by fewer grocery stores, lower street connectivity and longer distances between transit stops.
Neighbourhoods with continuous bike paths also scored better.
Putting groceries near transit stops
The researchers conclude that improving access to fresh, healthy food requires coordinated land- and transportation planning. This approach could involve broadening cycling networks or improving and expanding public transit. They also suggest creating mobility hubs that feature transit stops, pedestrian and cycling facilities and grocery stores.
Khorramisarvestani says she plans to continue studying how Montreal is organized, including a closer look at grocery store locations and how local amenities are connected under different parameters.
“The concepts of the 15-minute city and proximity planning are becoming increasingly popular,” she says. “We want to understand how realistic they are to achieve.”
This research was funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
The study was co-authored by Pierre Gauthier, an associate professor in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, and Ursula Eicker, a professor in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Read the cited paper: “Exploring sustainable accessibility through multimodal networks: Assessing heathy food access in Montreal”.
Journal
Journal of Urban Mobility
Method of Research
Data/statistical analysis
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Exploring sustainable accessibility through multimodal networks: Assessing healthy food access in Montreal
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