The Growth in Access to Local Produce within Urban Populations in Southeastern Wisconsin

Abstract

The growth in access to local food in urban areas is an important topic concerning a large population of people. A source used to connect people with fresh food is the Farm Fresh Atlas which provides a listing of local farms and markets to buy produce from. Using, ArcGIS, maps were used to examine whether there is a difference in access to farms, farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture (CSA) locations from 2008 to 2014 in urban areas in Southeastern Wisconsin. Statistics were used including a t-test to determine the significance in access through averages for travel drive time. A key finding was that the average drive time for farmers’ markets and CSA’s significantly decreased while travel drive time to farms increased between 2008 and 2014.