Food affordability is an important determinant of food choices, nutrition, and non-communicable diseases. Food affordability refers to food prices and people’s perceptions of worth relative to the cost; therefore, addressing the issues of food affordability needs solutions from both the supply side and demand/consumer sides. In spite of the richness in studies on increasing and improving physical access to affordable food, research investigating how to stabilize food affordability by improving spatial arrangement of food provision is rare. In 2011, China introduced affordable food stores selling agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as AFAP) that provide at least 15 food items (including vegetables, eggs, rice, and cooking oil) that are cheaper than the average market price. The motivation for the AFAP is for food prices to remain relatively stable during the period of rising prices. Using a combination of the relevant policy documents, socio-economic data, and Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP) surveys, and this presentation presents insight into the spatial arrangement of food provision to stabilize food affordability in Nanjing, China. Accordingly, it explores the spatial pattern of AFAPs and its location condition, and examines spatial differentiation of food price in different areas. Further, applying quantitative analyses, it evaluates the implications of the establishment of AFAPs to urban food affordability based on the propensity score matching model.
About the speaker
Yaya Song is a Queen Elizabeth Scholar with the Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP) at Wilfrid Laurier University based at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. She is a PhD candidate in School of Geography and Ocean Science at Nanjing University in China, an HCP research partner. Yaya holds a Bachelor of Science degree in human geography and urban planning and her research interests are food security, food geography and sustainable development.
