Reckoning with Food Apartheid: Lessons from U.S. Cities and Counties

In recent years, food justice activists and scholars have pushed to move away from the use of “food desert,” a misleading term that implies a naturally occurring phenomenon, and towards a “food apartheid” framing, which better reflects the intentionality and racially discriminatory approaches that have led to inequitable access to food seen in the U.S. today. Numerous cities and counties across the U.S. have established food justice programs to address these racialized inequities. Through interviews with staff members, this report explores the planning and policy interventions being implemented to fight food apartheid and sheds light on the language local governments are using to frame their work. These findings highlight the impact of language on how food insecurity is approached, and provide food apartheid-informed strategies for city and county staff to consider in this work.Master of City and Regional Plannin

Spatial and Temporal Trends in Travel for COVID-19 Vaccinations

Highlights : Disparities in distances people traveled for vaccinations by demographics exist. Males and White people traveled longer distances for vaccination appointments. Travel distances of over 10 miles for vaccination likely required motorized transportation. Introduction: Understanding spatial and temporal trends in travel for COVID-19 vaccinations by key demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race, age) is important for ensuring equitable access to and increasing distribution efficiency of vaccines and other health services. The aim of this study is to examine trends in travel distance for COVID-19 vaccinations over the course of the vaccination rollout in North Carolina. Methods: Data were collected using electronic medical records of individuals who had first- or single-dose COVID-19 vaccination appointments through UNC Health between December 15, 2020, and August 31, 2021 (N = 204,718). Travel distances to appointments were calculated using the Euclidean distance from individuals’ home ZIP code centroids to clinic addresses. Descriptive statistics and multivariable regression models with individuals’ home ZIP codes incorporated as fixed effects were used to examine differences in travel distances by gender, race, and age. Results: Males and White individuals traveled significantly farther for vaccination appointments throughout the vaccination rollout. On average, females traveled 14. 4 miles, 3.5% shorter distances than males; Black individuals traveled 13.6 miles, 10.0% shorter distances than White individuals; and people aged 65 and older traveled 14.5 miles, 2.6% longer distances than younger people living in the same ZIP code. Conclusions: Controlling for socioeconomic status and spatial proximity to vaccination clinics at the ZIP code level, males and White individuals traveled longer distances for vaccination appointments, demonstrating more ability to travel for vaccinations. Results indicate a need to consider differential ability to travel to vaccinations by key demographic characteristics in COVID-19 vaccination programs and future mass health service delivery efforts

Transportation barriers to care among frequent health care users during the COVID pandemic

Background: Transportation problems are known barriers to health care and can result in late arrivals and delayed or missed care. Groups already prone to greater social and economic disadvantage, including low-income individuals and people with chronic conditions, encounter more transportation barriers and experience greater negative health care consequences. Addressing transportation barriers is important not only for mitigating adverse health care outcomes among patients, but also for avoiding additional costs to the health care system. In this study, we investigate transportation barriers to accessing health care services during the COVID-19 pandemic among high-frequency health care users. Methods: A web-based survey was administered to North Carolina residents aged 18 and older in the UNC Health system who were enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare and had at least six outpatient medical appointments in the past year. 323 complete responses were analyzed to investigate the prevalence of reporting transportation barriers that resulted in having arrived late to, delayed, or missed care, as well as relationships between demographic and other independent variables and transportation barriers. Qualitative analyses were performed on text response data to explain transportation barriers. Results: Approximately 1 in 3 respondents experienced transportation barriers to health care between June 2020 and June 2021. Multivariate logistic regressions indicate individuals aged 18–64, people with disabilities, and people without a household vehicle were significantly more likely to encounter transportation barriers. Costs of traveling for medical appointments and a lack of driver or car availability emerged as major transportation barriers; however, respondents explained that barriers were often complex, involving circumstantial problems related to one’s ability to access and pay for transportation as well as to personal health. Conclusions: To address transportation barriers, we recommend more coordination between transportation and health professionals and the implementation of programs that expand access to and improve patient awareness of health care mobility services. We also recommend transportation and health entities direct resources to address transportation barriers equitably, as barriers disproportionately burden younger adults under age 65 enrolled in public insurance programs

Spatial and Temporal Trends in Travel for COVID-19 Vaccinations

Introduction: Understanding spatial and temporal trends in travel for COVID-19 vaccinations by key demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race, age) is important for ensuring equitable access to and increasing distribution efficiency of vaccines and other health services. The aim of this study is to examine trends in travel distance for COVID-19 vaccinations over the course of the vaccination rollout in North Carolina. Methods: Data were collected using electronic medical records of individuals who had first- or single-dose COVID-19 vaccination appointments through UNC Health between December 15, 2020, and August 31, 2021 (N = 204,718). Travel distances to appointments were calculated using the Euclidean distance from individuals’ home ZIP code centroids to clinic addresses. Descriptive statistics and multivariable regression models with individuals’ home ZIP codes incorporated as fixed effects were used to examine differences in travel distances by gender, race, and age. Results: Males and White individuals traveled significantly farther for vaccination appointments throughout the vaccination rollout. On average, females traveled 14. 4 miles, 3.5% shorter distances than males; Black individuals traveled 13.6 miles, 10.0% shorter distances than White individuals; and people aged 65 and older traveled 14.5 miles, 2.6% longer distances than younger people living in the same ZIP code. Conclusions: Controlling for socioeconomic status and spatial proximity to vaccination clinics at the ZIP code level, males and White individuals traveled longer distances for vaccination appointments, demonstrating more ability to travel for vaccinations. Results indicate a need to consider differential ability to travel to vaccinations by key demographic characteristics in COVID-19 vaccination programs and future mass health service delivery efforts

Kenai Fjords National Park: Exit Glacier Area: Summer Transportation Feasibility Study

VXU7A1/SE293VXU7A1/SE294The purpose of the Exit Glacier Area summer transportation feasibility study for Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) is to understand the current transportation conditions at the Exit Glacier Area and evaluate the feasibility of a range of potential actions to improve transportation conditions. This study is not a plan and will not result in a decision or project without further planning and community engagement. However, this study will provide KEFJ and the National Park Service (NPS) Alaska Region (AKR) with information and analysis to better understand the current state of transportation access to the Exit Glacier Area and the feasibility of potential enhanced access. NPS and KEFJ are not considering an NPS-owned or operated transit system to provide park access, and are instead interested in identifying options for the park to support business opportunities for private entities. The specific goals of this study are to understand current conditions and demand for transit service to the Exit Glacier Area; identify short-term strategies to improve transportation access for visitors; and consider visitation and transportation trends and anticipate future needs

Assessing Urban Habitat Connectivity: Using Circuit Theory to Model Blanding\u27s Turtle Movement

With the burgeoning growth of urbanization, urban landscapes have become more heterogeneous and less suitable for nonhuman organisms. This translates into isolated patches of suitable habitat interrupted by anthropogenic infrastructure. The loss of continuous habitats has created a myriad of negative ecological effects, including loss of genetic diversity, overexploitation of local resources, and local extinction. In response to these concerns, ecologists have begun modeling habitat connectivity in order to connect isolated habitat patches and facilitate animal movement throughout highly fragmented urban areas. Although this modeling is critical, there is no standard model used. One model, based on circuit theory, has shown promise over the last ten years. In this model, animals are treated as ‘current\u27 flowing through the ‘resistors\u27 of the landscape. We selected a highly fragmented area - the Twin Cities Metro Region - in order to test the applicability of circuit theory to our target species: the Blanding\u27s Turtle. We concluded that the model is highly effective at incorporating several different resistance layers based on existing landscape features while accurately predicting high- movement pathways. Our final output models contain important insight on dispersal patterns for the species, and have the potential to aid in future conservation efforts