What the Maps Tell Us: Initial Findings

The neighborhoods with the highest scores in the Proximity to Supplemental Food Programs (Food Pantries and Summer Food Sites) map tend to be located in the more urban and densely populated areas of the region. The Atlas mapping tool can be used to assign a proximity score to every neighborhood in the region based on the average proximity of each block in the neighborhood to a supplemental food program. A score of “5” indicates proximities within ¼ mile, while a score of “1” or below indicates proximities greater than 1 mile. Of the ten neighborhoods with the highest proximities to supplemental food programs, most are located in north/northeast Portland, primarily in historically high poverty neighborhoods:

The neighborhoods with the lowest proximity to supplemental food programs are primarily located in unincorporated areas and neighborhoods with low population densities.
 
Many of the neighborhoods with the highest proximity scores on the Proximity to Food Stores and Farmers’ Markets Accepting SNAP map also have high proximity scores on the Proximity to Supermarkets, Grocery Stores, and Fresh Food Composite map. This suggests that SNAP acceptance is fairly widespread among food retailers in the region. The ten neighborhoods in the region with the highest proximity to food retailers accepting SNAP are:

The neighborhoods with the lowest proximities to food retailers accepting SNAP tend to be located in unincorporated areas and neighborhoods that are not densely populated. Neighborhoods in Clark County should not be analyzed using this indicator, because the data source did not include Clark County grocery stores.
 
A visual scan of the Proximity to Supplemental Food Locations (SNAP and Food Pantries) in Relationship to Areas with Above Regional Average Percent Populations in Poverty map suggests a general alignment between the locations of higher poverty census tracts and the locations of supplemental nutrition sources across the region. But there are still some high poverty census tracts with poor access to supplemental nutrition. The map can be used to identify the census tracts across the region with the greatest imbalance between supplemental food need and access. For example, the table below lists the ten census tracts with the highest poverty rates in the region. Many have good access to supplemental food, but a few clearly do not:

Several census tracts in Vancouver and one in Forest Grove have high poverty levels and very low proximity to supplemental food sources. Further analysis of these and other census tracts with similar patterns could help to inform efforts to address food insecurity in our region. 

The Atlas online mapping tool provides additional data that can be combined with these maps to develop a more complete understanding of how well specific populations can access supplemental nutrition. The locations of supplemental nutrition programs can be overlaid with demographic data on populations in poverty, seniors, children, and people of color to assess levels of geographic access. These maps can also be considered alongside Atlas maps showing the locations of grocery stores and farmers’ markets that accept WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children).