Indicator PI.8.f Proportion of households with 1/2 mile access to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) drop-off site
Data Source
Location of CSA drop-off sites from Local Harvest, Om Organics, and San Francisco Food Alliance.
Household data from Applied Geographic Solutions, Inc. Spring 2007 Update: Current Year Estimates. Methodology available at: http://www.appliedgeographic.com/library.html.
Map prepared by City and County of San Francisco, Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software.
Table data is presented by planning neighborhood. While planning neighborhoods are larger geographic areas than census tracts, census tracts do not always lie completely within a planning neighborhood. SFDPH used ArcGIS software and a 'centroids within' methodology to convert census blocks to geographic mean center points. We then assigned census blocks to planning neighborhoods based on the spatial location of those geographic mean center points and calculated the planning neighborhood totals for the table. Detailed information regarding geographic units of analysis, their definitions, and their boundaries can be found in the HDMT at the following links:
http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/Geographic_Units_of_Analysis.September_2009.pdf
http://www.thehdmt.org/data_map_methods.php
Explanation and Limitations
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is an arrangement where consumer shareholders purchase farm products directly from a local or regional farmer in advance in exchange for a regular delivery (weekly, biweekly, monthly) of in-season crops produced by the farm. Farm products are generally delivered by the farm to drop-off sites in one or more neighborhoods. Proximity to a site does not always equal access. Factors such as cost, hours and locations of drop-off sites, transportation to/from drop-off sites, dietary and cultural preferences, and publicity about the CSAs may impact participation and access to fresh, locally produced, often organic and seasonal fruits and vegetables.Why is this a Community Health Indicator?
CSAs increase community access to fresh, locally produced fruits, vegetables and other food products in areas without access to full service supermarket or produce markets. In turn, this access may increase consumption of fruits and vegetables sufficient to achieve health-based consumption recommendations.