Community Food Security - read the Hunger Commission's food access study and download free food access study materials including curriculum for nutrition education workshops.

Transportation

As previously mentioned, many participants opted to shop at stores outside of the area, like Albertson's and Safeway. Generally, public transportation to affordable stores was time consuming, expensive, and limited the amount of food a person can buy. Drawbacks to taking the bus included bus fare that can cost as much as $3.50 per person, long waits with perishable items, and the perceived reluctance of bus drivers to transport individuals with several bags of groceries.

People who had access to a car generally shopped outside of the area. They said they would look for sales and shop accordingly. "Hopefully, you have a car to get around in this city," said one participant. Many participants said that they would walk to the closer stores to buy one or two items to "get by," but tried to avoid it. The main reason they used their cars was to travel outside of the neighborhood for fresh produce and meat. People with cars felt the economic expenditure of traveling 6 or 7 miles to the grocery store. One woman said, "Now with gas prices so high, it affects the types and qualities of purchased food, how often you can shop, and what you can afford."

The long distances that residents within the Del Paso Heights and North Sacramento had to travel to shop presented even more challenges for people who did not own cars. Not only the price of food, but also the length of time it took to shop, and the number of bags that they could carry all limited how often people could take advantage of the savings at chain stores. Many participants without cars reported that they tried to do one large shopping trip at the beginning of the month and then bought one or two items as needed at local stores during the rest of the month. Quality affordable food was highly important to many participants but their challenges with combining transportation and food shopping were sometimes overwhelming. To overcome these challenges several participants spoke of carpooling with friends or family when possible. Unfortunately for many, access to a vehicle was not always possible and so most participants used public transportation. Often the bus was too difficult and expensive for many people to use, especially when dealing with transfers and expiration times on single fares. Single fares cost $1.50 and were valid for up to 90 minutes. The amount of time it took many of the participants by bus to go one way to the grocery store because of the necessary route, exceeded the 90 minute limit, making it necessary to buy a daily pass, which costs $3.50 per person One participant explained, "The bus takes a long time. You have to catch the transfers just right, or else if your transfer runs out, you have to pay for a new one. It is better to buy an all day pass."

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