United States Department of Agriculture

A report summary from the Economic Research Service

ERS is a primary source 

of economic research and 

analysis from the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, 

providing timely information on economic and policy 

issues related to agriculture, 

food, the environment, and 

rural America.

www.ers.usda.gov

Economic

Research

Service

Economic

Information 

Bulletin 

Number 131

December 2014

United States Department of Agriculture

Measuring Access to Healthful, 

Affordable Food in American 

Indian and Alaska Native 

Tribal Areas

Phillip Kaufman, Chris Dicken, and Ryan Williams 

December 2014

Find the full report at 

www.ers.usda.gov/

publications/eib-economic-informationbulletin/eib131

Phillip Kaufman, Chris Dicken, and Ryan Williams

Measuring Access to Healthful, 

Affordable Food in American Indian 

and Alaska Native Tribal Areas

What Is the Issue?

American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribal populations experience about twice the 

rate of nutrition-related health problems—including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and 

obesity—than most Americans. Prior studies cite limited access to supermarkets and other 

sources of affordable and nutritious foods as contributing to less healthful food choices by 

consumers. In many AIAN tribal areas, relatively low population density and limited incomes 

create disincentives for the entry of large grocery stores and supermarkets. Smaller grocery 

stores, convenience stores, and other retail outlets—though more prevalent in AIAN tribal 

areas and more accessible—are less likely to offer comparable foods. Healthy eating can be 

especially challenging for the poorest tribal area households. Although many are eligible for 

assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), limited access is 

also reported for supermarkets authorized for the program. Access measures are also reported 

for outlets used by the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), an alternative program that provides healthful foods where SNAP-authorized food stores are limited. 

This study’s findings contribute to a better understanding of differences in access to healthful, 

affordable food by researchers and policymakers charged with improving the nutrition and 

health status of tribal area populations.

What Did the Study Find? 

Both American Indian and Alaska Native tribal area populations are mostly rural; as a 

result, only 25.6 percent of all tribal area populations were 1 mile or less from a supermarket 

(defined as walking distance), compared with 58.8 percent of the U.S. population. Measured 

by population percentiles, the median distance to the nearest supermarket was 0.8 mile for 

all Americans, compared with 3.3 miles for all tribal area individuals. Although the 20th 

percentile of the population among tribal area and all U.S. individuals were both within 

walking distance, at the 80th percentile tribal area individuals were 13.2 miles from a supermarket, compared with 2.2 miles for all Americans. Almost one-half of all tribal area individuals had incomes at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Of those, 

27.8 percent lived in walking distance from a supermarket, compared with 63.6 percent of 

low-income individuals nationwide. 
The shares and population percentiles corresponding to SNAP-authorized supermarkets and FDPIR outlets 

were separately measured to better account for access by low-income individuals, children, the elderly, and 

households without a vehicle—those more likely to rely on food assistance benefits. Among the three tribal 

area types studied—American Indian Tribal Areas, Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas, and Alaska Native 

Village Statistical Areas—the fewer numbers of supermarkets that are authorized for SNAP resulted in an often 

smaller share of low-income individuals within walking distance and a greater share more than 10 miles distant 

compared with the shares for all supermarkets. 

Because FDPIR outlets provide an alternative to SNAP participation in areas where access to SNAP-authorized 

food stores is often limited, they are typically located within the tribal areas they serve. The share of lowincome individuals within walking distance varied by tribal area type, ranging from 7.1 percent in Oklahoma 

Tribal Statistical Areas to 39.4 percent in Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas. 

In tribal areas where both FDPIR and SNAP area available, the selection of the nearest of either outlet—a 

hypothetical outlet type—resulted in a greater share of low-income individuals within walking distance and a 

greater share between 1 and 10 miles driving distance relative to those same shares for SNAP-authorized supermarkets or FDPIR outlets alone. When the shares of walking distance and driving distance between 1 to 10 

miles are combined, their shares ranged from 83.9 percent in American Indian Tribal Areas to 97.4 percent in 

Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas. 

How Was the Study Conducted?

This study uses spatial analysis of the locations of tribal area populations, large grocery stores, supermarkets 

and supercenters, SNAP-authorized supermarkets, and FDPIR outlets to measure differences in access to 

healthful, affordable foods. Population and population subgroup characteristics for American Indian and Alaska 

Native tribal areas were obtained from the 2010 Census of Population and the 2006-2010 American Community 

Survey (ACS) 5-year summary. The 2006-2010 ACS summary file was chosen to allow comparisons with 

national results reported in Ver Ploeg et al. (2012). The locations of large grocery stores, supermarkets, and 

supercenters (herein referred to as supermarkets) are from a 2010 ERS directory developed by the same authors. 

The locations of SNAP-authorized supermarkets and FDPIR outlets were obtained from USDA, Food and 

Nutrition Service, and are based on 2010 data.

Geographic Information System (GIS) methods were used to compute the number and percentage of populations and population subgroups in 545 American Indian and Alaska Native tribal areas by nearest distance to 

each of four outlet types. Each individual tribal area was divided into 1/2-kilometer square grids, and distances 

to the nearest outlet type were computed for each grid-cell population and population subgroup. These results 

were then aggregated to obtain access measures for American Indian Tribal Areas (AITAs), Oklahoma Tribal 

Statistical Areas, and Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas. Two methods were used to measure tribal access. 

The first reports the number and share of tribal area populations by walking (1 mile or less) and driving (more 

than 1 mile) distance. The second method reports distance to outlet type for the 20th, 50th (median), and 80th 

percentile of population. A Statistical Supplement, available along with the report on the ERS website, provides 

tables with access measures for each of the 545 individual tribal areas.

www.ers.usda.gov