Spatial Optimization to Support Mobile Food Market Site Selection: A Case Study in the City of Phoenix

Equity concerning food access has gained a lot of attention in the past decades. This problem can be seen in the dearth of supermarkets offering healthy food at reasonable prices in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Numerous studies show that the disparity in the distribution of food outlets has resulted in disparities in health outcomes. To mitigate the issue, various intervention strategies have been proposed and implemented, including introducing new supermarkets, mobile food markets, community gardens, and city farms in these neighborhoods. Among these strategies, mobile food markets have gained the attention of practitioners and policymakers for their low costs and service flexibility. Challenges remain in identifying the sites for best serving the people in need given limited resources. In this study, a new spatial optimization model is proposed to determine the best locations for mobile food markets in the City of Phoenix. The new model aims to cover the largest number of people with food access challenges while minimizing transportation costs. Compared with the existing mobile market sites, the sites provided by the new model can increase the coverage of low-food access residents with a shorter transportation distance. The new model has also been applied to help expand the service provider of the existing mobile food markets. In addition to mobile food markets, the method provided in this study can be extended to support the planning of other food outlets and food assistance services.