Access to Food in New Hampshire

Import data

All data but one variable (land area) used in this analysis came from the U.S. Department Agriculture. The information on land area was obtained from the 2017 U.S. Gazetteer Files at the U.S. Census Bureau. The 2017 census tract file is based on the 2010 Census.

Explore data

Number of Urban and Rural Census Tracts

Interpretation

• The geofacet map illustrates the state’s southeatern region is more populous and urban compared to the rest of the state.

Number of Low Income and Low Access Census Tracts

Interpretation

• The geofacet map illustrates that the state’s population is concentrated in the southeastern region of the state. It also shows that the number of Census tracts in food desert does’t vary much regardless of which of the four food desert measures are used.

Population in Low Income and Low Access Census Tracts

In calculating the population in food desert, LILATracts_1And10 was used a measure of food desert. The choice was arbitrary and it could have been any one of the other three.

Interpretation

• The southeastern counties top the list of population in food desert largely because they are the most populous counties in the state.
• When the population size is considered, Sullivan County stands out as more than 50% of its residents live in food desert. It’s followed by Coos County with nearly 29%.

Land Area (square miles) in Low Income and Low Access Census Tracts

Sensitivity of results to measures of food desert

The result of the analysis appears to vary depending on which of the four food desert measures are used. For example, Grafton County has the largest square miles in food desert when LILATracts_1And10 was used a measure of food desert. However, when LILATracts_1And20 was used a measure of food desert, Grafton County falls to the fourth largest and Sullivan tops the list with land area in food desert more than twice as large as the second largest, Strafford County. Hence, a careful thought should be given to which of the four food desert measures is appropriate for New Hampshire and better serves the purpsoe of the study.