Cultivating Sustainability: A Quantitative Study Identifying N.J. Urban Ag. Barriers in Food Deserts

Food deserts are a public health phenomenon where the lack of supermarkets, inadequate public transportation, and high poverty rates impede consistent access to healthy food. Across the U.S., various strategies seek to alleviate these challenges, focusing on government relief programs and aid. Urban food deserts are equally essential to consider in light of urbanization trends. In N.J. (New Jersey), 50 food desert areas face the most severe food insecurity across rural and urban contexts. Decreases in food insecurity in urban food deserts are often accompanied by urban agricultural practices that have enhanced food variety, promoted sustainability, and localized food systems. However, this study identified nine barriers to implementing urban agriculture initiatives in N.J.'s urban food deserts. Through a sequential quantitative analysis of a survey of food systems professionals and a spatial analysis using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), this study attempts to identify the most prevalent barrier to effective urban agricultural operations across N.J. urban food deserts. In partnership with N.J. urban agricultural organizations and representatives, lack of funding was the most commonly cited barrier to the expansion of urban agriculture initiatives. Furthermore, a GIS-based spatial analysis identified whether the high-priority barriers to urban agriculture varied by region and revealed that all organizations identified funding or lack of access to funding as a significant barrier, regardless of whether they operated in a low- or high-income neighborhood. Thus, policymakers must reevaluate urban agricultural organizations' valuable role in N.J.'s urban food deserts.