ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on single parent households as a marker for households at risk for food insecurity and poor health. It uses a geographic information system to characterize the commercial and emergency food environments for Single parent households (SPH) in an older industrial city Lewiston, Maine. The community food assessment was conducted by the Lewiston Downtown Educational Collaborative, which includes local educational and community organizations and the Nutrition Center of Maine. Indeed, nutrition and food access can be viewed as human rights issues, the ultimate solutions to which necessitate a social justice rather than a market based approach and should have as their goal food sovereignty rather than mere food security. The location of public transportation and emergency food providers such as soup kitchens and food pantries are additional aspects of the built environment that may impact food access and thus food security, particularly for those living in poverty.