The Food Environment Atlas’ stated objectives are to:
1. Assemble statistics on food environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet quality; and
2. to provide a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so.
The Food Access Research Atlas is meant to:
1. Present a spatial overview of food access indicators for low-income and other census tracts using different measures of supermarket accessibility
2. Provide food access data for populations within census tracts
3. Offer census-tract-level data on food access that can be downloaded for community planning or research purposes

Data Summary
Dataset Name: USDA Food and Environment and Access
Data Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Years: Ranges from 2000 to 2016
Geographies: State, County, and Census Tract
Download the USDA Food Environment and Access documentation HERE.
Suggested Citation:
Jennifer Ailshire, Sarah Mawhorter, Matthew M. Young, and Yeon Jin Choi. 2020. Contextual Data Resource (CDR): United States Department of Agriculture Food Environment Atlas by State and County and Food Access Research Atlas by Census Tract, 2000-2016. Version 2.0. Los Angeles, CA: USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health.
Related Publication
Choi, Y. J., Ailshire, J. A., & Crimmins, E. M. (in press). Living Alone, Social Networks in Neighborhoods, and Daily Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States. Public Health Nutrition.
Data Sources:
Economic Research Service (ERS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Food Environment Atlas, https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/
Economic Research Service (ERS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Food Access Research Atlas, https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/