Public perceptions of local food environments in shrinking cities: Weighing solutions to community food insecurity in Camden, New Jersey

Authors

Christopher Tirri
Devon Nealer
Katrina McCarthy
Mahbubur Meenar, Rowan UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Version Deposited

Published Version

Open Access Funding Source

Other

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Publication Title

Social Sciences and Humanities Open

DOI

10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100703

Abstract

Historically, the shrinking city of Camden, New Jersey has experienced a wide range of issues related to social, environmental, and nutritional injustice. This study focuses on two of the city's most at-risk neighborhoods, Waterfront South and Bergen Square, and examines residents’ perceptions of their local food environments, food insecurity, and proposed solutions, including a potential online grocery delivery service. Many participants across our four methods indicated significant levels of food insecurity, often citing their neighborhoods’ dependence on unhealthy corner stores, lack of full-service grocery retailers, and lack of connection to local food initiatives in other neighborhoods. Responses from our focus group participants generated three dominant themes for potential solutions: (i) attracting new and improving existing grocery retailers in the study area; (ii) increasing education about and participation in local food production; and (iii) fostering collaboration among the city's diverse stakeholders to develop unified food security initiatives. Focus group participants and stakeholder interviewees expressed mixed opinions about a new online grocery delivery service, with some emphasizing its potential convenience and a majority expressing concerns about product quality and equitable access to the service. © 2023 The Author(s)

Comments

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Recommended Citation

Tirri, C., Nealer, D., McCarthy, K., & Meenar, M. (2023). Public perceptions of local food environments in shrinking cities: Weighing solutions to community food insecurity in camden, new jersey. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1), 100703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100703

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.