Lewiston Community Food Assessment“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Michelle Vazquez Jacobus

David E. Harris

The Community Food Assessment (CFA)

• The Downtown Educational Collaborative (DEC) –St. Mary’s Nutrition Center and DEC partners begin overview of nature of nutritional issues in Lewiston

• City Of Lewiston – Efforts on part of many groups for many years to do collaborative needs/assets assessment including LUCC, Bates Service Learning Office, MAO and others

• USM LAC – community based interdisciplinary campus with mission to serve and work with community.

The Downtown Education Collaborative (DEC) is a ground-breaking community education partnership comprising four colleges (Bates, USM LAC, CMCC, and Andover College) and three community-based organizations (Empower Lewiston, Lewiston Public Library and Lewiston Adult Education).  It aims to pursue community-based educational work in and with Lewiston’s underserved downtown neighborhood. DEC’s mission is to cohere the resources of the colleges and to bring them to bear on the community, in partnership with the community, to contribute to the revitalization of downtown Lewiston.   

USM LACFounded in 1988 in response to community call, USM LAC is a

campus of USM developed of, by and for the community. The campus serves• 1250 mostly “non-traditional” students, • a majority of whom are also first-generation college

students. • LAC students routinely juggle college classes,

employment, and family obligations.

It is paramount to the college’s mission that the curriculumbe relevant to the lives of its students and to their needs indeveloping skills and knowledge necessary to succeed inthe community.

Café Bon Bon

Impacts on Students

• Enhances student learning: Develops skills and teaches content

• Prepares students for professions and future in the field

• Affords greater access to college • Contributes to student retention, perseverance,

sustainability• Builds student esteem and confidence• Develops students as citizens: cultivates awareness

of social justice, diversity, morality, empathy, social responsibility, understanding of difference/other, life-long civic engagement

Impact on Faculty

• Provides opportunity for collaboration• Connects faculty to community, to colleagues and to

institution• Develops faculty sense of meaning, identity, and

esteem – protective against burn out• Builds faculty skills and learning• Has potential for developing faculty research• Refreshes course content, faculty teaching and

presentation Provides opportunity for current and relevant application of course material

Impact on Institution• Builds profile and public image (if done well,

completely and responsibly)• Aids student recruitment• Encourages gifts, donations, alumni

volunteerism • Extends institutional resources through

collaboration • Strengthens relationship with community

organizations and with community as whole • Possibility for improving institution’s status

with government and political officials because of all above

• Renews university relevance in community and society

Impact on Community

• Extends resources of college to the community

• Extends opportunities for lifelong learning

• Builds community capacity • Contributes to improved college access

and aspirations

Trinity Jubilee Center

Two Community Engagement Focused Classes

• Applied Social Policy – Students partner with community organizations to engage in project of positive social change.

• Geographic Information Systems –students learn skills and technology for GIS mapping.

• GIS students mapped the food stores located by ASP students.

Initial Findings/Questions Raised by Student Engagement

• Accessibility includes comfort, safety, cultural familiarity

• Transportation or lack thereof is key determinant of accessibility

• Weather related challenges can be greatest obstacle to accessibility

• In many stores items like cigarettes by the piece, beer and lottery tickets are easier to come by than apples or carrots.

Community Food Assessment (CFA) – Phase 2

A collaborative project of DEC members and SOCHS

Study Location: Lewiston, Maine

Question: How do food store characteristics & demographics interact to impact food insecurity?

Approach: Map food stores: What is sold? Price?Map demographics of at risk groups

http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/images/2006map.gif

http://www.cfpa.net/Alerts/12.3.07.html

Food Stores – Healthy Food Categories Available

Healthy Food CategoriesFresh FruitsFresh VegetablesFrozen VegetablesReduced Fat DairyWhole GrainsCanned or Dried Peas or BeansLean Meats

Food Stores With Most Healthy Food Categories Available

Least Expensive Food Stores & Fraction Single-Parent Households with Children

Poverty Rates and Stores Selling Soda and/or Beer

Halal Stores And Areas Where African Immigrants Live

Fraction of Households With Member > 65 YOA

Fraction of Households Without a Car

Question: Are members of “at risk” groups more likely to live > 1 km from a store selling most healthy food categories?

Analysis: Compare populations of census blocks < 1 km from a store to populations of blocks > 1 km Chi-sq

Result:

Conclusion: People at risk for food insecurity are NOT more likely to live > 1 km from a food store

Group %< 1 km %> 1 km p-valueSingle Parent Kids <18 0.115 0.096 0.0001HH with elders 0.287 0.262 0.0005People<150% Poverty 0.385 0.165 0.0001People Disabled 0.308 0.222 0.0001HH No Vehicle 0.279 0.064 0.0001

# Beer stores Inexpensive StoreGroup Coefficient p-value R-sq Coefficient p-value R-sqSingle Parent Kids <18 7.1730 0.000 0.033 -1351.2000 0.005 0.015HH with elders -1.8750 0.097 -1066.0000 0.001 0.022People<150% Poverty 22.9252 0.000 0.648 -1362.0000 0.000 0.030People Disabled 35.3140 0.000 0.453 -1618.1000 0.012 0.012HH No Vehicle 24.4444 0.000 0.652 -1930.9000 0.000 0.053Population Density 0.0008 0.000 0.326 -0.0947 0.000 0.058Sum Population 0.0012 0.000 0.720 -0.1876 0.000 0.226

Food cost # Soda storesGroup Coefficient p-value R-sq Coefficient p-value R-sqSingle Parent Kids <18 2.0397 0.019 0.011 12.3980 0.000 0.038HH with elders -1.0233 0.071 -3.9660 0.029 0.009People<150% Poverty 9.4539 0.000 0.439 37.5680 0.000 0.670People Disabled 16.5026 0.000 0.394 59.2470 0.000 0.491HH No Vehicle 10.2369 0.000 0.456 39.9830 0.000 0.672Population Density 0.0003 0.000 0.176 0.0014 0.000 0.358Sum Population 0.0004 0.000 0.291 0.0001 0.000 0.657

Questions: What predicts a high cost at the closest store with most food categories?What predicts large numbers of stores selling soda/ beer within 1 km?What predicts a longer distance to the closest inexpensive store?

Analysis: Census block level Simple linear regression analysis

Result:

Conclusion: Areas with high fractions of people who may be at risk for food insecurity are likely:1) to have a higher cost of healthy food at the closest store2) to have a larger number of stores selling beer & soda within 1 km3) to be closer to an inexpensive store

Variable Immigrants Y/N Mean SEM p-valuePopulation Density No 2093 134.03

Yes 5190 438.26 <0.0001

Soda Purchase Locations No 6.481 0.2924Yes 17.25 0.7934 <0.0001

Beer Purchase Locations No 4.261 0.1884Yes 10.92 0.4486 <0.0001

Cost - Food Basket No 20.08 0.1122Yes 22.35 0.1927 <0.0001

Distance to Inexpensive Store No 1997 71.009Yes 1640 60.31 0.0001

Questions: How do areas where recent African immigrants live compare to other parts of the city?Cost of food at the closest storeNumber of stores selling beer/ soda within 1 kmDistance to closest inexpensive store

Analysis: Compare t-tests

Result:

Conclusion: Areas with recent immigrant populations are more likely:1) to have a higher cost of healthy food at the closest store2) to have a larger number of stores selling beer & soda within 1 km3) to be closer to an inexpensive store

Summary If people at risk for food insecurity are disadvantaged by geography it is because:

1) the closest store where they can buy healthy food is more expensive2) there are larger numbers of stores selling soda & beer nearby

People at risk for food insecurity:1) are not more likely to live > 1 km from a store selling healthy food2) are likely to live closer to inexpensive store

Interpretation People will need tools and the will to:1) pass the more expensive closer store2) resist opportunities to buy unhealthy food

Community has a responsibility to:1) plan to meet needs of diverse groups 2) provide accessible healthy food purchase options

Issues Raised for further consideration

• 1 KM ≈ 10 miles if impediments like disability, young children, time, stress, weather are issues

• Only 3 stores have food that African immigrants may require for their diet (halal meats), all 3 are downtown and none are amongst those with great variety or low prices

• Still need updated demographic information re specifically where those vulnerable to food insecurity live

• Pieces regarding emergency food resources and food supplementation sources (like soup kitchens, food pantries, community gardens) need to be added to assets and mapped

• Ongoing research –please let us know if interested!

“Rodger the Cook” at 100 Pine Street

Lots to Gardens’ Children’s Garden at Hillview

Farm land just a few minutes out of town