Iana Castro
San Diego State University, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
In rural areas, many people have trouble getting healthy food. Money is tight, transportation is limited and supermarkets are scarce, while small corner, liquor and convenience stores are common.
- Fields
Public Health & Epidemiology
Social Science
- Topics
food insecurity
healthy food access
food environment
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Nov 2030
What they work on
- Map the food environment of Imperial County, California, by building a Geographic Information System (GIS) of food retailers and auditing stores in person to find gaps in healthy food access.
- Adapt an urban produce distribution service for rural small stores with input from a community advisory board and store owners, and assess its feasibility, acceptability and cost-effectiveness.
- Evaluate, using data collected over time, whether delivering produce to partner stores improves produce availability, food security, food purchasing and dietary intake among rural residents.
More about the research
These small stores usually stock few healthy options, but they already serve their communities. That makes them a possible route for bringing fresh food closer to residents. This project asks whether such existing stores can improve food access and health among low-income, mostly Hispanic residents of rural Imperial County, California.
Why it matters
Low-income, mostly Hispanic rural residents who struggle to find affordable, healthy food could benefit directly. If produce distribution through small stores works, it could offer rural communities a practical way to use stores they already have. Such an approach could improve food security and diet and reduce health disparities without waiting for new supermarkets.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Emily Melnick
University of Denver, CO·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Test whether limited neighborhood food access at age 2 predicts less responsive parental feeding practices and less nutritious foods served at ages 3–5, using geocoded data from the ECHO and Care cohorts.
Mayra Sanchez Gonzalez
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Public Health & Epidemiology·Early-career
Identify social connection factors linked to good management of multiple chronic conditions among Hispanic adults aged 50 and older, through in-depth interviews with 30 participants.
Bettina Drake
Washington University in St Louis, MO·Public Health & Epidemiology
Monitor and evaluate cancer burden and differences in screening, mortality and morbidity across 82 Missouri and Illinois counties, comparing rural communities and Medically Underserved Areas.
The school
San Diego State University: 13 labs on PI Pages, $182M a year on research, 142 research doctorates a year.
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