A study of vulnerability, hazard, and risk in relation to food insecurity in the United States and Spain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21138/GF.827Abstract
This study applies a Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology to evaluate risk to develop a quantitative measure for the food insecurity suffered by the most vulnerable populations within a city. Risk is calculated by combining social vulnerability and hazard (inaccessibility of food supply) values, and this model of analysis is demonstrated in two case studies: the Southeast Quadrant of the District of Columbia in the United States and in the district of Puente de Vallecas in Madrid, Spain. In this procedure, GIS tools are applied to calculate the Social Vulnerability Index using data surrounding average income, level of education, unemployment rate and age, and proximity to supermarkets is used as the criteria for generating hazard values. Risk levels for census tracts in each case study are then calculated by combining rescaled vulnerability and hazard levels. The results of this analysis identify areas with a high level of food insecurity risk and are thus in urgent need of intervention measures within the two neighborhoods analyzed. In Puente de Vallecas the Census Section identified as a hot spot of high risk of food insecurity is 07913143, with a Social Vulnerability Index value of 1.646, in the range of 0.901 to 3.223 and Risk Value of 3, in the range of 3 to 10. In the Southeast Quadrant the high-risk areas selected for further study are Census Tracts 7601 and 7605 with Social Vulnerability Index Values 2.221 and 1.737, in the range of 1.040 to 3.525, and Risk Values 2 and 5, in the range of 0 to 10, respectively. A subsequent qualitative analysis of these specific areas informs the proposal of mitigation strategies specific to each case study. This proposal enables the monitoring of economic factors’ impact on food insecurity, provides effective solutions to improve local food supplies (e.g., farmers’ markets and urban gardens), identifies a widespread absence of mixed-use developments, and highlights the limitations of public transport offers in urban areas suffering from food insecurity.
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