Mapping Food Access and Insecurity in Tukwila using GIS
In working with Global to Local, a dedicated non-profit organization committed to achieving health equity in Tukwila.
Introduction
Through their innovative food access programs, Global to Local strives to improve the availability of fresh, nutritious food for all residents. Our project focuses on mapping food accessibility in these communities, highlighting areas of need and helping to drive resources where they are most needed. Specifically looking into the food accessibility landscape in Tukwila and ways Global to Local can improve their outreach program.
Figure 1: Overview Map of Tukwila Region
Figure 1: Overview of Tukwila
Figure 2: Food Insecurity Risk Visualization by census Tract
Data Source: ATSDR, Place of Health, CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index
Food Insecurity Risk Scale is a composite index score of the combined variables: 'Percentage Population with No Vehicle', 'Percentage Population living in Mobile Homes', 'Percentage Population with a Disability', 'Percentage Population in single parent households'. In plain language darker shaded regions show more prevalence of these variables indicating that they're at higher risk to food insecurity.
FII_Comp_IPF
Note: Click on a census tract and scroll down to visualize each of the food insecurity variables
Figure 3: Proximity to bus route
Below displays multiple bus routes (in Tukwila both coming from Boulevard Park and ending near Southcenter mall. Bus stop icons represent bus stops and Grocery store icons represent locations providing produce. The blue overlay displays a quarter mile buffer (walkable distance) from the main bus routes . Clicking on a grocery store will display a popup with information if the store is SNAP eligible. Purple highlighted overlay displays tracts deemed as Medium-High or High to food insecurity (Reference: Figure 2)
Figures 2 & 3: Accessibility relative to Food Insecurity
Note: Figures 3-5 information can be viewed by clicking the legend icon at the bottom left
Figure 4: South Seattle Food Bank Accessibility relation to Food Insecurity
Below displays a visualization showing the Food Banks only in the South Seattle area with a 1 mile area buffer surrounding them. Purple highlighted tracts are areas deemed as Medium High/High risk to food insecurity as shown in Figure 2. Highlighted red point displays the location of the Farmers Market.
Figures 2 & 3: Accessibility relative to Food Insecurity
Figure 5: Heart Buck spending and Food Insecurity Risk in South Seattle
Data sources: Global to Local, Food Innovation Network Heart Buck Program, ATSDR, Place of Health, CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index
Figure 4 below visualizes the South Seattle region displaying Heart Buck spending by census tract. Heart Bucks is a program similar to SNAP/EBT where qualified shoppers can buy nutritious foods at the Tukwila Village Farmers Market. The purple overlay highlights tracts that are considered Medium High or High risk to food insecurity (Figure 2). Average Amount Spent by Tract is calculated by taking the mean accumulated from all households in that Tract on Heart Bucks and crossed out values represent tracts with no data. Proportional red symbols represent number of households in each tract and the red pinpoint represents the location of the Tukwila Market. Clicking on a specific census tract will pop up a bar chart with the distribution of the demographic spread in that area on the Heart Bucks program.
Note: Food Insecurity Risk layers are only shown that overlap with a tract with at least 1 household on heart bucks.
Figure 4: Heart Buck Spending relative to Food Insecurity