UConn Study: How Healthy Are Middletown's Food Options?

By Eileen McNamara; posted by Cassandra Day.

Middletown ranks 23rd out of Connecticut’s 169 towns in terms of its “food security,” as defined by a new University of Connecticut study.

The report, “2012 Community Food Security in Connecticut: An Evaluation and Ranking of 169 Towns,” ranks each town according to how easily its residents  can access healthy, affordable foods.

The study was divided up into several components and ranked among towns statewide in terms of lowest risk, below average, above average, and greatest risks in each category.

In Middletown, a city with a population of 47,349, ranks 152 out of 169 in food insecurity; 54 out of 169 in access to retail food; and 23 out of 169 in access to food assistance. In its size group, among cities with populations larger than 45,000 residents, Middletown ranks 12 out of 20 in food insecurity; 17 out of 20 in access to retail food; and 13 out of 20 in access to food assistance.

For instance, towns with easy access to farmer’s markets and other sources of healthy foods would rank higher in food security than communities where residents must travel far from home to find healthy food sources.

According to the data compiled by the UConn researchers, Weston is 
the most food secure town in Connecticut and Hartford is the least food security.

The study also took into account the diversity and proximity of all retail food options for residents and the accessibility of food assistance programs in each town.

“Most residents in Connecticut have consistent, dependable access to enough food for active, healthy living,” the study states. “Yet each year there are households that experience limited access to food due to a lack of money or other resources." 

Between 2008 and 2010, 12.7 percent of residents in Connecticut were living in food insecure households (38 percent of which were living in ‘households with very low food insecurity.’) 

Approximately one in seven Connecticut households reported there had been times in the past year when they did not have enough money to buy food that they needed.”

Other factors the study took into account when determining a community’s “food security” included:

• Poverty and unemployment rates in each town
  
• Whether households in each town had access to a vehicle
  
• The education level of a town’s residents