enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income Peoples3.3 Community markets, community gardens, andimproving access to foodDelvina GortonSummaryThere has been little assessment of the impact of community gardens on food security,however they are well-liked by gardeners who use them. They also have a positiveeffect on fruit and vegetable consumption and provide social benefits to users, and maybe a particularly appealing intervention to Māori. Their development and use should besupported where there is community demand. Community markets and farmers’markets have potential to reach a larger audience than community gardens, and alsoprovide social benefits. However, in order to improve access to affordable produce inlow-income areas the markets must be appropriately located, operate at suitable times,be appropriately targeted, and accessible. Implementation of community markets in lowincomeareas merits strong consideration. Alternative options for households withlimited transport options is to have fresh produce delivered to consumers, or asupermarket shuttle. Robust research and evaluation of interventions is necessary todetermine the impact of such initiatives on food security.Specific recommendations are to:• support community gardens where there is community demand for them.Alongside this, evaluation or research should be conducted to determine theirtrue impact on food security and nutrition• trial and evaluate community/farmers’ markets in low-income areas, along withconsideration of suitable transport options to attend markets• conduct economic analyses of supermarkets providing shuttles in low-incomeareas• consider subsidised fruit and vegetable delivery boxes or mobile vendors as analternative in some areas if a community market is not feasible.Problem DefinitionThis chapter briefly addresses the broad and inter-related topics of community marketsand gardens, access to food supply, and transport. The commonality between thesetopics is the desire to make access to affordable, healthy food easier for Māori, Pacific,and low-income families. In the past, food security was considered primarily a problemof general food availability, and focus was traditionally on the supply of food at a nationallevel. 1 2 Since the early 1980s, however, food security in developed countries has beenconsidered an issue related principally to individual access to food, which can bephysical or economic in nature. Within the context of this chapter, access is consideredin relation to physical access to healthy food, that is, the range and quality of foodavailable within easy reach. The topics considered are community gardens, farmers’ orcommunity markets, and access or transport initiatives.84