Food Availability and Food Deserts in the Nonmetropolitan South

Over the past thirty years, the structure of food retailing in the United States has changed dramatically. Local grocery stores that once served a small community or neighborhood are increasingly being replaced by regional or national chain grocers. In addition, big box general merchan- disers have also entered the retail grocery sector with the advent of hybrid superstores that combine groceries with a wide array of product lines. A key consequence of this restructuring is the growing uneven distribution of food retailers across rural America. For example, Kaufman reports that rural counties in the Lower Mississippi Delta average one supermarket per 190.5 square miles. Additionally, over 70 percent of the low income populations in this region must travel 30 or more miles to access the lower food prices offered by a supermarket or large grocery store. The remaining options included small grocers or convenience stores where consumers are likely to pay substan- tially higher prices for a smaller variety of lower quality foods [7]

African Americans (Research Report #121)

From the early 18th century to now, African-Americans have lived in Louisiana and the other Gulf states and played an integral role in shaping the linguistic and cultural traditions of the region. The seventh in the series discusses the experiences of African-Americans in the region.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1006/thumbnail.jp

Bringing the Community Back In: the Mediating Role of Civic Community in the Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Homicide Relationship in Rural and Urban Counties, 1980--1990.

One key explanation of aggregate rates of homicide in localities across the U.S. is social disorganization theory. This theory posits that disadvantaged neighborhoods lack the social and economic resources to exert social control on community residents. One shortcoming of this approach is that it cannot adequately explain urban-rural differences in African American homicide victimization. While African Americans in rural areas experience similar or even more extreme levels of disadvantage than their urban counterparts, the risk of homicide for rural African Americans is significantly lower. To address this shortcoming, I develop a conceptually different, although complimentary, explanation of violence grounded in civic community theory. The civic community perspective identifies two institutions, small business and religious, that provide community-level social control. This study evaluates the validity of both theories and examines the manner in which these explanations of crime operate independently and in concert with one another in rural and urban counties in the U.S. I test these models with race disaggregated data from the Uniform Crime Reports Supplementary Homicide Report Victim File and U.S. Census, as well as supplementary data from County Business Patterns, and Census of Churches. I examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal nature of the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage, civic community, and homicide for African Americans and whites from 1980 to 1990. The findings indicate that civic community indicators have both direct impacts on homicide victimization and mediate the relationship between measures of socioeconomic disadvantage and homicide for African Americans and whites in 1990. These relationships, however, vary for urban and rural counties. Initial 1980 levels of civic community are associated with declines in homicide during the 1980\u27s for African Americans and whites. For African Americans, growth in the number of churches per 1000 members is associated with declines in homicide victimization during the 1980\u27s. I discuss implications for theories of aggregate levels of crime, research, and public policy in the concluding section

Asians (Research Report #117)

This is the third in a series of reviews. This review discusses the experiences of other Asians (not Vietnamese) in the region. Given the significant number of Vietnamese immigrants living in the southeastern United States, a vast body of literature in the social sciences has described, explored and explained the presence of Vietnamese immigrants living along the Gulf of Mexico.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1004/thumbnail.jp

Vietnamese (Research Report #116)

This review discusses the experiences of Vietnamese in the region. This group that became prominent in the United States during the Vietnam War.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1003/thumbnail.jp

Scots-Irish Women and the Southern Culture of Violence: The Influence of Scots-Irish Females on High Rates of Southern Violence

Prior research has documented a higher rate of violent crime within the South relative to other U.S. regions. Some scholars argue that higher rates of violence in the South are due to the lasting effect of the unique culture of the Scots-Irish immigrants that came into the U.S. in the mid-1700\u27s. Though there is a large body of literature examining the link between culture and violence in the South, an implicit assumption of this line of study is that the cultural effect occurs largely within the white male population in rural Southern areas. No study, to our knowledge, has extended this thesis to females. We address this omission in prior analyses by empirically testing the Southern Culture of Violence thesis using female arrest rates. Drawing on countylevel ancestry data from the 2000 Census and UCR Supplementary Homicide Report data, we estimate a series of negative binomial regression models. A conclusion and discussion of the results follow

Latinos (Research Report #115)

This first review in this series focused on various racial and ethnic groups in the Gulf of Mexico region explores the experiences of Latinos -- a group that has gained significant local and national attention over the past 20 years as the number of Latinos residing in the area, and in the nation, has drastically increased.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1001/thumbnail.jp

Croatians (Research Report #119)

This is the fifth in a series of reviews about the experiences of various racial and ethnic groups in the Gulf of Mexico region.This one focuses on the experiences of Croatians. Although relatively small in number, Croatians have had considerable influence in the southeastern United States, particularly in the economic life of southern Louisiana. Commonly known to have transformed and substantially grown the oyster industry, Croatians also have a complex history and culture.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1002/thumbnail.jp

Native Americans (Research Report #120)

This is the sixth in a series of reviews. This review discusses the experiences of Native Americans in the region – a group that was the foundation of the southeastern United States long before European or Spanish colonization. Although much of the documentation about American Indian history, migration and culture is fragmented, this group had substantial effects on the economy, culture and history of the southeastern United States.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1007/thumbnail.jp

Spatial Contours of Potential Biomass Crop Production: An Examination of Variations by U.S. Region

The recent and projected status of energy production and consumption in the United States, resulting in substantial dependencies upon foreign oil, has continued to provide pressure on domestic energy security. All told, bio-energy systems, and biomass crop production in particular, will be important elements of national security, economic vitality, and public policy. Using biomass crop estimates based upon models developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we identify potential biomass crop production zones using spatial analysis methods. The Midwest and the South are, by far, the largest regions of potential production. Once potential biomass crop yield is made proportional to estimated land and production costs, the South’s optimal crop zones fall along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Seaboard, whereas in the Midwest, they are largely in non-metropolitan localities. The implications of these spatial contours for energy policy for alternative biomass crop production are discussed