Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

An oasis in the desert? The benefits and constraints of mobile markets operating in Syracuse, New York food deserts

  • Published:
Agriculture and Human Values Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper we critically examine mobile markets as an emerging approach to serving communities with limited healthy food options. Mobile markets are essentially farm stands on wheels, bringing fresh fruits, vegetables and other food staples into neighborhoods, especially those lacking traditional, full service grocery stores, or where a significant proportion of the population lacks transportation to grocery stores. We first trace the emergence of contemporary mobile markets, including a brief summary about how and where they operate, what they aim to achieve, who they serve, and the general constraints on their operations. We then report case study findings that examine the operational benefits and challenges of two mobile markets operating in Syracuse, New York. Our research suggests that although Syracuse’s mobile markets play a positive role in alleviating geographic, economic and social barriers to fresh food access experienced by elderly, immobile and low income residents living in Syracuse’s urban neighborhoods, the impacts of the mobile markets are dampened by both operational constraints and larger political and economic forces.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Our internet-based research on mobile markets in the U.S. revealed 55 mobile markets, 10 of which are no longer operational. Using the USDA Agricultural Marketing Services “National On-Farm Market Directory” (http://search.ams.usda.gov/OnFarmMarkets/), we found 50 mobile markets. Because not all mobile markets have websites and because farmers’ markets in the On-Farm Market Directory are self-reported, our reported number of mobile markets is an estimate.

  2. See http://search.ams.usda.gov/OnFarmMarkets/).

  3. Efforts to realize a new cooperative grocery store in West Oakland are still underway (http://peoplescommunitymarket.com/).

  4. See http://search.ams.usda.gov/OnFarmMarkets/.

  5. See: http://www.nationalmobilemarket.org/.

  6. Indeed, Widener et al. (2011) find that food access changes seasonally.

  7. The USDA provides education to retailers, including mobile market operators, on how to legally accept and administer SNAP payments; see http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailers/pdfs/Retailer_Training_Guide.pdf.

  8. See USDA ERS Access Research Atlas (http://apps.ams.usda.gov/fooddeserts/fooddeserts.aspx).

  9. See http://communitygeography.org/projects/syracuse-hunger-project.

  10. Throughout this paper, the Southside neighborhood-based mobile market will be referred to as the CDC MM. The mobile market operated by the regional farmers’ market will be referred to as the RFM MM.

  11. See http://www.fns.usda.gov/fmnp/wic-farmers-market-nutrition-program-fmnp and http://www.fns.usda.gov/sfmnp/senior-farmers-market-nutrition-program-sfmnp for information about the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

Abbreviations

CDC:

Community Development Corporation

CDC MM:

Community Development Corporation Mobile Market

CSA:

Community supported agriculture

EBT:

Electronic benefits transfer

FMNP:

Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program

RFM:

Regional Farmers’ Market

RFM MM:

Regional Farmers’ Market Mobile Market

SNAP:

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

USDA:

ERS United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service

WIC:

Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program

References

  • Alaimo, K., E. Packnett, R.A. Miles, and D.J. Kruger. 2008. Fruit and vegetable intake among urban community gardeners. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 40(2): 94–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alkon, A. 2008. From value to values: Sustainable consumption at farmers markets. Agriculture and Human Values 25: 487–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, P. 2004. Together at the table: Sustainability and sustenance in the American agrifood system. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, P. 2008. Mining for justice in the food system: Perceptions, practices, and possibilities. Agriculture and Human Values 25(2): 157–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bedore, M. 2010. Just urban food systems: A new direction for food access and urban social justice. Geography Compass 4(9): 1418–1432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bedore, M. 2012. Geographies of capital formation and rescaling: A historical-geographical approach to the food desert problem. The Canadian Geographer 57(2): 133–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartley, B., and A. Best. 2013. Mobile markets: Applying the food truck model to food access. Alexandria, VA: Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture. http://arcadiafood.org/news/mobile-market-report. Accessed March 5, 2014.

  • Bower, K.M., R.J. Thorpe Jr, C. Rohde, and D.J. Gaskin. 2014. The intersection of neighborhood racial segregation, poverty, and urbanicity and its impact on food store availability in the United States. Preventative Medicine 58: 33–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boone-Heinonen, J., P. Gordon-Larsen, C.I. Kiefe, J.M. Shikany, C.E. Lewis, and B.M. Popkin. 2011. Fast food restaurants and food stores: Longitudinal associations with diet in young to middle-aged adults: The CARDIA study. JAMA Internal Medicine 171(13): 1162–1170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K.H., and A.L. Jameton. 2000. Public health implications of urban agriculture. Journal of Public Health Policy 21(1): 20–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burgoine, T., and P. Monsivais. 2013. Characterizing food environment exposure at home, at work, and along commuting journeys using data on adults in the UK. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 10: 85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, S., E. Flint, and S.A. Matthews. 2014. New neighborhood grocery store increased awareness of food access but did not alter dietary habits or obesity. Health Affairs 33(2): 283–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollahite, J., J.A. Nelson, E.A. Frongillo, and M.R. Griffin. 2005. Building community capacity through enhanced collaboration in the farmers market nutrition program. Agriculture and Human Values 22(3): 339–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutko, P., M. Ver Ploeg, and T. Farrigan. 2012. Characteristics and influential factors of food deserts, ERR-140, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err140.aspx#.U3uhBcdthtJ. Accessed April 10, 2014.

  • Food Bank of Central New York. 2014. Program search. http://www.foodbankcny.org/get-help/program_search/?1=1&county=Onondaga%20County. Accessed February 19, 2014.

  • Food Desert Action. 2012. Food desert action annual report 2012. http://media.wix.com/ugd//44ab20_c64642a59e57be8d8906f1085e67e28a.pdf. Accessed January 26, 2014.

  • Gottlieb, R., and A. Joshi. 2010. Food justice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guthman, J. 2008. Neoliberalism and the making of food politics in California. Geoforum 39(3): 1171–1183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. 2005. A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, D., G. Harrison, A. Afifi, and E. Jenks. 2008. Effect of a targeted subsidy on intake of fruits and vegetables among low-income women in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children. American Journal of Public Health 98(1): 98–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heynen, N. 2006. Justice of eating in the city: The political ecology of urban hunger. In In the nature of cities: Urban political ecology and the politics of urban metabolism, ed. N. Heynen, M. Kaika, and E. Swyngedouw. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horner, M.W., and B.S. Wood. 2014. Capturing individuals’ food environments using flexible space–time accessibility measures. Applied Geography 51: 99–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Issar, N. 2011. The Nashville Mobile Market annual report: 2011 in review. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/nashvillemobilemarket/Documents/2011AnnualReport.pdf. Accessed July 15, 2013.

  • Jones, M. 2013. Chattanooga Area Food Bank annual report 2012–2013. http://www.chattfoodbank.org/pdf/2013-Annual-Report.pdf. Accessed March 4, 2014.

  • Kropf, M., D. Holben, J. Holcomb Jr, and H. Anderson. 2007. Food security status and produce intake and behaviors of special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children and farmers’ market nutrition program participants. Journal of the American Dietics Association 107: 1903–1908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormack, L.A., M.N. Laska, N.I. Larson, and M. Story. 2010. Review of the nutritional implications of farmers’ markets and community gardens: A call for evaluation and research efforts. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 110(3): 399–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onondaga Citizens League. 2013. The world at our doorstep. http://onondagacitizensleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/OCL-Refugees-2013-w-final.pdf. Accessed March 20, 2014.

  • People’s Grocery. 2013. 10 year annual report. http://peoplesgrocery.org. Accessed March 5, 2014.

  • Quandt, S., J. Dupuis, C. Fish, and R.B. D’Agostino Jr. 2013. Feasibility of using a community-supported agriculture program to improve fruit and vegetable inventories and consumption in an underresourced urban community. Preventing Chronic Disease. doi:10.5888/pcd10.130053.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raja, S., C. Ma, and P. Yadav. 2008. Beyond food deserts: Measuring and mapping racial disparities in neighborhood food environments. Journal of Planning Education and Research 27(4): 469–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, J., and E. Weissman. 2015. Mobile markets. In Food issues: An encyclopedia, ed. K. Albala. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruthhart, B. 2013. Produce buses stall as funding runs dry: Effort to serve ‘food deserts’ searches for new business model, partners. Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-16/news/ct-met-chicago-food-deserts-1016-20131016_1_fresh-moves-four-more-buses-food-desert-action#. Accessed February 24, 2014.

  • Shannon, J. 2014. Food deserts: Governing obesity in the neoliberal city. Progress in Human Geography 38(2): 248–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Short, A., J. Guthman, and S. Raskin. 2007. Food deserts, oases, or mirages? Small markets and community food security in the San Francisco Bay Area. Journal of Planning Education and Research 26(3): 352–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sifferlin, A. 2012. Can “pop-up” grocery stores solve the problem of food deserts? Time, July 24. http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/24/can-pop-up-grocery-stores-solve-the-problem-of-food-deserts/. Accessed March 5, 2014.

  • Syracuse Community Geography. 2013. Syracuse Hunger Project. http://communitygeography.org/projects/syracuse-hunger-project/. Accessed February 19, 2014.

  • The Memphis Green Machine. 2012. Promoting food security in Memphis’ poorest neighborhoods. Saint Patrick Community Outreach Center. http://www.mrdcinfo.org/_uploads/UD101-120424_Kangelos.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2014.

  • U.S. Census Bureau. 2013. American Community Survey, 2008–2012. DP03 selected economic characteristics. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml. Accessed February 19, 2014.

  • Walker, R., C. Keane, and J. Burke. 2010. Disparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature. Health & Place 16(5): 876–884.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weatherspoon, D., J. Oehmke, A. Dembele, and L. Weatherspoon. 2015. Fresh vegetable demand behaviour in an urban food desert. Urban Studies 52(5): 960–979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widener, M.J., S. Metcalf, and Y. Bar-Yam. 2011. Dynamic urban food environments: A temporal analysis of access to healthy foods. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 41(4): 439–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widener, M.J., S. Metcalf, and Y. Bar-Yam. 2012. Developing a mobile produce distribution system for low-income urban residents in food deserts. Journal of Urban Health 89(5): 733–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widener, M.J., S.S. Metcalf, and Y. Bar-Yam. 2013. Agent-based modeling of policies to improve urban food access for low-income populations. Applied Geography 40: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widener, M.J., and J. Shannon. 2014. When are food deserts? Integrating time into research on food accessibility. Health & Place 30: 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Windmoeller, M. 2012. Mobile markets. http://www.communitycommons.org/2012/11/mobile-markets-one-food-desert-solution/. Accessed March 4, 2014.

  • Zepeda, L. and A. Reznickova. 2013. Measuring effects of mobile markets on healthy food choices. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin. http://dx.doi.org/10.9752/MS142.11-2013. Accessed March 30, 2014.

  • Zepeda, L., A. Reznickova, and L. Lohr. 2014. Overcoming challenges to effectiveness of mobile markets in US Food Deserts. Appetite 79: 58–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the time and insights of mobile market staff, customers and associates in helping to advance this research. We appreciate the feedback of our anonymous reviewers and the research assistance of Sean Keefe, Jeremy French-Lawyer, and Lucas Barros-Correia. Our research was funded by the Sustainable Enterprise Partnership, a joint initiative of Syracuse University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and the Syracuse Center of Excellence.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Syracuse University, 144 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Jonnell A. Robinson

  2. Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, Syracuse University, 304 Lyman Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Evan Weissman

  3. Grounded Direction, 201 E. Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY, 13205, USA

    Susan Adair

  4. Department of Landscape Architecture, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 306 Marshall Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Matthew Potteiger

  5. Department of Geography, Gustavus Adolphus College, 800 West College Avenue, Saint Peter, MN, 56082, USA

    Joaquin Villanueva

Authors
  1. Jonnell A. Robinson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Evan Weissman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susan Adair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Matthew Potteiger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Joaquin Villanueva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonnell A. Robinson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Robinson, J.A., Weissman, E., Adair, S. et al. An oasis in the desert? The benefits and constraints of mobile markets operating in Syracuse, New York food deserts. Agric Hum Values 33, 877–893 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-016-9680-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-016-9680-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation