Using advanced spatial statistical analyses to determine socio-economic constructs of fresh food availability in Georgia, United States.

An increasing number of people worldwide are consuming fresh food for health, environmental, and ethical reasons. As this push for the consumption of fresh food is gaining momentum, many citizens cannot partake in the movement as they live in areas where there are no fresh food stores, or it takes a long time to reach the nearest fresh food store. This phenomenon exists throughout the United States, including the State of Georgia. We first determined the spatial locations of standard grocery stores selling fresh food across Georgia. Using advanced spatial tools in Geographical Information System (GIS), we then determined the average travel time to selected stores at the census tract level and used it as the dependent variable in a spatial lag regression model to determine factors affecting the fresh food availability at the state level. Moreover, we specified a Cluster Point Process Model to analyze how population characteristics explain...