About the project

In 2014, Dr. Jerry Shannon and Asian Media Access collaborated on a study that looked at the relationship between food purchasing and transit, which was the first study of its kind. The findings were:

• Most low-income, urban communities have a net “outflow” of SNAP benefits, most often to suburban areas.
• Supermarkets and wholesale retailers play the largest role in providing food for SNAP clients, but stores in low-income neighborhoods are often seen negatively.
• Ethnic retailers were also often used by study participants for specific food items, but seldom as a primary food source.

Asian Medica Access and Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research have built on the previous report and designed a new project to further help define patters on food access among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and its relationship to the transportation, as well as different shopping behaviors influences by diverse cultures.