[HTML][HTML] Healthy versus Unhealthy Suppliers in Food Desert Neighborhoods: A Network Analysis of Corner Stores' Food Supplier Networks

Y Mui, BY Lee, A Adam, AY Kharmats, N Budd… - International journal of …, 2015 - mdpi.com
International journal of environmental research and public health, 2015mdpi.com
Background: Products in corner stores may be affected by the network of suppliers from
which storeowners procure food and beverages. To date, this supplier network has not been
well characterized. Methods: Using network analysis, we examined the connections
between corner stores (n= 24) in food deserts of Baltimore City (MD, USA) and their
food/beverage suppliers (n= 42), to determine how different store and supplier
characteristics correlated. Results: Food and beverage suppliers fell into two categories …
Background: Products in corner stores may be affected by the network of suppliers from which storeowners procure food and beverages. To date, this supplier network has not been well characterized. Methods: Using network analysis, we examined the connections between corner stores (n = 24) in food deserts of Baltimore City (MD, USA) and their food/beverage suppliers (n = 42), to determine how different store and supplier characteristics correlated. Results: Food and beverage suppliers fell into two categories: Those providing primarily healthy foods/beverages (n = 15) in the healthy supplier network (HSN) and those providing primarily unhealthy food/beverages (n = 41) in the unhealthy supplier network (UHSN). Corner store connections to suppliers in the UHSN were nearly two times greater (t = 5.23, p < 0.001), and key suppliers in the UHSN core were more diverse, compared to the HSN. The UHSN was significantly more cohesive and densely connected, with corner stores sharing a greater number of the same unhealthy suppliers, compared to HSN, which was less cohesive and sparsely connected (t = 5.82; p < 0.001). Compared to African Americans, Asian and Hispanic corner storeowners had on average −1.53 (p < 0.001) fewer connections to suppliers in the HSN (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our findings indicate clear differences between corner stores’ HSN and UHSN. Addressing ethnic/cultural differences of storeowners may also be important to consider.
MDPI