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Redlining, racism and food access in US urban cores

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Abstract

In the 1930s, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) graded the mortgage security of urban US neighborhoods. In doing so, the HOLC engaged in the practice, imbued with racism and xenophobia, of “redlining” neighborhoods deemed “hazardous” for lenders. Redlining has caused persistent social, political and economic problems for communities of color. Linkages between redlining and contemporary food access remain unexamined, even though food access is essential to well-being. To investigate this, we used a census tract-level measure of low-income and low grocery store food access from the US Department of Agriculture Food Access Research Atlas, redlining data from Mapping Inequality Project, and demographic data from the American Community Survey. We employed generalized estimating equations with robust covariance estimates to analyze data pertaining to 10,459 census tracts in 202 US cities. Tracts that the HOLC graded as “C” (“decline in desirability”) and “D” (“hazardous”) had reduced contemporary food access compared to those graded “A” (“best”). Increases in contemporary census tract proportions of Black, Hispanic, or other racial/ethnic minority residents, as well as disabled residents, were associated with reduced food access. Increases in contemporary proportions of residents age 75 years and older or those without a car were associated with better food access. Tracts that underwent housing redevelopment since being graded had better food access, while those undergoing gentrification had reduced food access. Results suggest that issues of redlining, housing discrimination, racism, ableism, displacement, and food inaccessibility are deeply intertwined.

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Abbreviations

HOLC:

Home Owners Loan Corporation

LILA:

Low income and low grocery store food access

COVID-19:

Coronavirus disease 2019

USDA:

United States Department of Agriculture

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Dr. Daniel Adkins at the University of Utah for feedback on the initial draft of the work. We also recognize Casey Mullen and Abhay Goel for their assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Utah, 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Yasamin Shaker & Sara E. Grineski

  2. Department of Geography, University of Utah, 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Timothy W. Collins

  3. Center for Natural and Technological Hazards, University of Utah, 260 Central, Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Yasamin Shaker, Sara E. Grineski, Timothy W. Collins & Aaron B. Flores

  4. Department of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, 975 S Myrtle Ave, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Aaron B. Flores

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Shaker, Y., Grineski, S.E., Collins, T.W. et al. Redlining, racism and food access in US urban cores. Agric Hum Values 40, 101–112 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10340-3

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