Tools
Food Environment Toolbox Decision Tree
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The Participatory Mapping tool is designed to be conducted prior to the other food environment assessments included in the Food Environment Toolbox to help inform which tools to use as well as the sampling approach for a given study. As part of a focus group discussion conducted with community members who are familiar with the different food access points within the community, the Participatory Mapping tool guides participants to draw a map of the different wild, cultivated, built, kin and community, and supplemental food assistance spaces they access food from in the community.
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The seasonal food availability calendar tool is designed to assess the availability of wild, cultivated, and purchased fresh foods in the community over the months of the year. Within focus group discussions, participants are asked to free list the different fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and pulses, animal source foods, nuts and seeds, and cereals and grains that are available within the community.
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The food environment perceptions survey is designed to assess people’s lived experiences with their food environments including their perceptions of the accessibility, affordability, availability, convenience, and quality of food in the spaces they access food. The survey includes optional sections related to perceptions of food sustainability in addition to the core set of questions.
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The Community Food Environment Mapping tools include: (1) Food Outlet Census Tool; (2) Roadside Food and Beverage Promotion Tool; and (3) Mobile Vendor Census Tool. The data from these Community Food Environment Mapping tools can be combined and used to conduct spatial analysis and descriptive statistics to characterize the availability, quality, and promotion of foods across vendor types in the community.
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The Market Mapping Tool is designed to assess the key markets where consumers purchase food within a community. There are four modules included in the tool: 1) market properties and infrastructure; 2) market vendor types (optional if conducting a sub-sample rather than full vendor census of market); 3) market vendor roster; and 4) market promotion.
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The in-depth vendor assessment tool is designed to assess several food environment dimensions of a sub-sample of vendors/food outlets in markets and/or communities. The in-depth vendor assessment includes an observational checklist documenting the variety, labeling and sustainability properties of foods sold, how different food groups are stored, vendor hygiene and safety practices, as well as food and beverage promotion.
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The Cost of a Healthy Diet (CoHD) data collection protocol was designed to provide guidance on how to collect food price data in a way that will enable researchers and practitioners to calculate the CoHD according to the Food Prices for Nutrition protocols (Food Prices for Nutrition, 2024), aligned with the global methodology used to compute the CoHD that is tracked across countries (FAOSTAT).