Zoning for healthy food access varies by community income

Introduction: Community zoning policies affect the food environment by permitting/prohibiting food outlets. This presentation will examine the extent to which local zoning ordinances permit food outlets and whether the zoning varies based on community income.

Methods: Zoning ordinances were collected from 175 local governments surrounding a nationally representative sample of 154 public secondary school catchment areas where students attending public secondary schools live. Zoning ordinances were analyzed using a reliable policy audit tool developed by the Bridging the Gap Community Obesity Measures Project. Multivariate regression models assessed the community factors influencing food outlet permitted uses including race/ethnicity, urbanicity, community income, and region. To account for the relative weight of the zoning ordinances from multiple local governments pertinent to the same school catchment, the data were weighted proportional to the population of the local jurisdiction.

Results: Ninety-three percent and 75% of communities permitted fast food restaurants and supermarkets/grocery stores, respectively. Slightly more than one-half of the communities permitted mobile vendors (55%) or produce stands (52%). Far fewer communities permitted farmers' markets (40%), fruit/vegetable carts (28%), or urban agriculture/community gardens (12%). Communities with below median household income were significantly less likely to permit supermarkets/grocery stores (OR=.27, 95% CI=.11, .64); farmers' markets (OR=.15,95% CI=.06,.38); and produce stands (OR=.45, 95% CI=.21,.98). No other community characteristics significantly affected food outlet zoning.

Conclusions: Zoning ordinances can be an important tool in creating healthy food environments. Disparities exist in the extent to which lower-income communities specifically zone to allow food outlets.