Learn, Find, and Connect: Making sure our communities have enough to eat with Grocer-Ease
Contributors: Linda Vong, Abby Ellis, David Zarate, Danica Villez
Problem and Solution Overview
Food is a basic human need, and for at least 2.3% of all U.S. households — 2.3 million people — that need is not being met for a multitude of reasons, including food deserts. Urban food deserts are areas that have limited supermarket accessibility, neighborhood income, food assistance programs, and other food access factors. In Washington State specifically, there are 17 urban food deserts, affecting more than 125,000 people. Folx living in urban food deserts who are the primary food purchaser for their household often experience challenges consuming and providing healthy foods due to time, physical distance, transportation, and cost limitations. Living in a food desert contributes to food insecurity and unbalanced diets, which can have significant short-term and long-term health consequences. We want to acknowledge that the underlying issues of poverty and racialized capitalism cannot be addressed in any single solution, but much of the approach should be focused on people, community, and grassroots work. Our goal is that Grocer-Ease, our website, will help facilitate the use of overcomplicated food assistance social programs, as well as community mutual aid-oriented solutions.
Design Research Goals, Stakeholders, and Participants
Our research goal was to learn more deeply about the demographics of primary food providers of households in Washington State urban food deserts, the parts of the food providing process that are working, and the parts that are not. While deciding which research method to focus on, we considered the fact that we are asking folx to disclose their socioeconomic statuses and relationship with food for a school project and not for the actual development of a new product that could potentially help them. We sought to balance learning from our user group but also not asking too much of folx’ time or emotional labor, as one of the challenges our user group may face is limited time. Surveys were appropriate for our research so that we could collect data from a larger number of people. We had nine total responses for our survey, largely from young college students and their families. These responses were from eight different areas in Washington State, where seven of the folx who filled out our survey were the primary food providers of their households. Comparing their zip codes against the USDA Food Access Research Atlas, we found that while none of our participants lived directly in Washington State urban food deserts, 5 of them lived in areas that are lower income and had lower access to food retailers within 0.5 miles, and 2 of those who completed the survey lived less than 0.25 miles away from areas that are considered Washington State urban food desserts. We also conducted interviews to gain insight from some other stakeholders who work directly with people who face food insecurity. We interviewed people who run local food banks, food drives, food support programs, and conduct research with folx facing food insecurity. Specifically, the groups that our interviewees work with are:
- Folx experiencing houselessness in Issaquah; older adults*; adults with disabilities; predominantly Black grandparents, aunts, and uncles who use SNAP** and/or TANF*** and care for young children; and folx who do not qualify for most food assistance services. Some of these folx had family, friends, or other support networks, while others had few outside of the programs assisting them.
- Young adults experiencing houselessness in Seattle
- Latinx folx living in Burien, Des Moines, SeaTac, White Center and Normandy Park
- South King County community members
Design Research Results and Themes
We had some common themes arise, but they differed between the survey participants and interviewees. This is likely because the demographics of the survey participants was largely skewed by who we, as a research team, were able to reach in our personal networks, while the demographics of who our interviewees work with had a much larger range. Survey participants seemed to prioritize cost, culturally relevant foods, and health as primary concerns; and they all had access to a car. On the other hand, the interviewees shared some different concerns they have noticed from the communities they work with. The interviewees noted that the health level of the foods was not of central concern, usually because securing food and an adequate amount of calories in general was the priority. Some of the common challenges were proximity to stores with fresh and affordable groceries; transportation to and from stores (e.g. too many bus transfers, corralling children in the process); knowledge of, difficulty accessing or navigating the application for food assistance programs (due to lack of computer or time to visit an in-person office), or shame around SNAP. For those experiencing houselessness, a challenge was wanting to cook but not having access to tools, facilities, or storage. Another common theme is that folx learned about food assistance resources like food banks and assistance programs primarily through word of mouth.
While there are some existing resources like food banks, volunteers to support food assistance, and DSHS’s food program eligibility checker, there was a resounding desire for folx to simply be able to access the food they need to live independently — a call towards food justice. From interviewing the community organizers that work to eradicate food insecurity, we learned about a common community-oriented approach that organizers take towards this goal.
- First, raise awareness about the issue, with the most important factor being the revival and creation of relationships between members of the same community.
- Second, create some structure for any organization that may be created, including communication methods, outside/inside resources, and a clear mission statement.
- Third, repeat steps 1 and 2, in order to proactively engage the community and continue the growth of resources.
* older adults = the preferred term over “seniors” or “elderly”
** SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from the USDA
*** TANF = Temporary Assistance for Needy Families from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS)
Proposed Design
We will pursue the creation of a website focused on getting groceries to people, with the challenges of those living in food deserts in mind. Our design will include a centralized search tool of grocery stores, tagged by whether they offer free delivery and which food program benefits they accept. An additional feature will allow users to organize with those in their neighborhood around mutual food aid, specifically to coordinate splitting bulk orders to make bulk shopping more affordable and viable. We decided on this website format because a website is one of the more accessible ways to learn and coordinate with others, whether people have access to a personal or shared device, whether it is a desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. Because many folx in our user group primarily learn about food programs by word of mouth, it is important that the website is easy to find, navigate, and share about — unlike something more device-specific like a mobile app.
We broke our design down into three categories: Learn, Find and Connect.
- Learn — The learn page will teach folx about what food programs and benefits they qualify for as well as how to go about using them.
- Find — The find page will help folx discover which food retailers around them accept certain benefits.
- Connect — The connect page will help folx organize with others in their neighborhood around mutual food aid and achieve things such as coordinating bulk food orders.
In the first story board, a user discovers a community free food pantry resource in their community using the Connect aspect of our website.
In the second story board, a user uses the Find tool to see what food providers around them accept their SNAP benefits.
