ABSTRACT In this paper, we develop a new approach to mapping food access in the U.S. We compare the standard USDA approach to a method that examines differences between actual food outlet locations and optimal locations, as defined by a covering model. We find that the new approach places more weight on rural areas, in contrast to the USDA method, which places more weight on urban areas. We contend this covering model approach is superior to the USDA approach in three ways: (1) it explicitly examines what commodities are available a different categories of store, (2) it allows the comparison of real distributions with an idealised surface or set of locations, elucidating where interventions make most sense, (3) it allows flexible inclusion of target populations (i.e. households experiencing economic barriers to food access) by not setting Census Tract-level limits on definitions of low-income, and (4) it provides a flexible analytical tool that can be recalibrated in response to the demands of local policy, politics and changes in the food landscape over time. Provided adequate data and computing power, this new approach can scale to align with a region’s purview and definition of healthy food access.

中文翻译：

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比较两种分析方法来评估新鲜、健康食品的获取情况：以印第安纳高地为例

摘要 在本文中，我们开发了一种绘制美国食品获取地图的新方法。我们将标准 USDA 方法与检查实际食品出口位置和最佳位置（由覆盖模型定义）之间的差异的方法进行了比较。我们发现新方法更重视农村地区，而美国农业部的方法则更重视城市地区。我们认为这种覆盖模型方法在三个方面优于美国农业部的方法：（1）它明确检查了不同类别的商店有哪些商品，（2）它允许将实际分布与理想化的表面或一组位置进行比较，阐明干预措施在哪些方面最有意义，(3) 它允许灵活地纳入目标人群（即 面临经济障碍的家庭）通过不对低收入的定义设置人口普查区级别的限制，以及 (4) 它提供了一种灵活的分析工具，可以根据当地政策、政治和变化的需求进行重新校准。随着时间的推移食物景观。在提供足够的数据和计算能力的情况下，这种新方法可以扩展以符合一个地区的权限和健康食品获取的定义。