Transportation Issues Affecting Independent Grocers and Fresh Food Distribution: A comparison study of urban and rural communities in the US

Abstract

This exploratory study investigates transportation-related food accessibility issues in US rural and urban areas, from the perspective of improving the food supply, with an objective to bring fresh foods closer (i.e., commercially available and affordable) to low-income communities. While wealth disparity is an underlying and much-studied contributor to low food access, other factors that shape the food system may be at play, including transportation infrastructure.

This study addresses research gaps in the transportation sector’s role in food access. This study aims to uncover ways that transportation systems affect wholesale market access and therefore food access. We take a broad definition of transportation systems to include terminal facilities as well as the connecting pick up and drop off points - commonly distribution centers, other warehousing, and grocery stores. Because most food, especially perishable food, is distributed by truck in the US, food distribution logistics shaped by the highway system is a transportation-relevant factor that affects food access. Studies on rural logistics are notably scant.

To ensure that the work will be useful to practitioners, we worked with transportation and food security professionals and volunteers to understand their challenges and review our early findings. We intend that this report may support their work to systemically address food access so that philanthropic efforts can focus on transitory and acute rather than chronic food access needs. In the report, we share data and information collected in urban and rural areas, including some specific consideration for Tribal food systems. We show both the similarities in the underlying causes of the challenges and the strategies pursued, but also key differences in them. We find shared challenges when considering roadways, logistics, market structure, and food access (figure 1). Urban and rural grocers face fierce competition, weak demand, high operational costs and limited capital and resources, resulting in financial difficulty. Underlying drivers of these challenges appear to differ, especially due to market penetration stemming from wholesale market organization. This suggests different policy approaches for improving rural and urban food access.