A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Residing in a Healthy Food Priority Area

Abstract

Background: The 2019 Seattle Healthy Food Availability and Food Bank Network Report identified several areas in Seattle, Washington, including the High Point community, as healthy food priority areas, or places to prioritize for increasing access to healthy food. Objective: To understand the lived experience of food access for High Point residents and if their perceptions of the food environment match quantitative accounts of the food environment. Methods: We interviewed 15 individuals who self-identified as living or working in High Point. Questions focused on five domains of food access: availability, accessibility/convenience, affordability, acceptability, and accommodation. We analyzed data using a directed content analysis approach. Results: Perceptions of the food environment largely matched quantitative accounts. Proximity to stores, transportation mode, and cost all shaped decisions about where to shop for food. The local food bank played an important role in making food access easier over time. Participants had varied suggestions for ways to improve the neighborhood, both related and unrelated to the food environment. Participants did not discuss topics within the domains of acceptability, accommodation, and availability to the same extent as topics within the domains of accessibility/convenience and affordability. Conclusions: Healthy food priority areas might have other pressing needs beyond food access, making partnering with community members an important step in understanding community needs. The domains of accessibility and affordability may play the greatest role in influencing food access and food-related decision-making, and within the domain of accommodation, the desire for culturally appropriate foods may be more pressing than wanting or needing adjusted store hours or acceptance of different types of payment.