EXAMINING THE IN-STORE ENVIRONMENTS IN A FOOD DESERT AND FOOD OASES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Over the past several decades the food and eating environments within the United States have undergone a transportation, collectively altering what, where, and how much we eat. A growing body of literature has examined the effects of these environmental changes with regards to the obesity epidemic. This study examined the availability of fresh produce, milk varieties, chips and soda wihtin two Safeway supermarkets located in polar socioeconimic circumstances in the District of Columbia to determine if there was a difference in proportion of shelf space dedicated to healthy versus unhealthy items, through in-store measurements. Results found that the relative proportion of healthy to unhealthy items was fairly equal within the two locations. As hypothesized the Safeway in Ward 3 had a healthier selection of milk products, however contradictory to previous findings within the literature the two locations had an equal proportion of space dedicated to the produce department.