Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Food Deserts And Migrant Farmworkers: Assessing Food Access In Oregon's Willamette Valley, Katie Grauel, Kimberlee J. Chambers

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Food insecurity, often correlated with “food deserts,” affects migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW) at greater rates than other populations. Our research evaluates the food desert experiences of MSFW communities in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Through GIS mapping, interviews with MSFW, and food retailer inventories, our research helps elucidate the degree to which the geographical distribution of food retailers and the products they carry affects MSFW. Access to food retailers was assessed for distances of 0.25, 1.5, 5, and 10 miles. Mapping locations of registered MSFW labor camps (n = 62) and food retailers (n = 215) in the Willamette Valley revealed …