Food in health geography

This chapter examines the engagement of health geographers with food issues, tracing the historical and intellectual trajectory of the topic within health geography but also in the broader related disciplines of public health and food studies. Perhaps the most obvious application of health geographers' skills in the study of food is the issue of food environments. The food-desert literature has been beset with measurement controversies and methodological challenges. Research has suggested that food deserts are not observable across all urban areas or in all high-income countries. Indeed, a systematic review by Beaulac, Kristjansson and Cummins found little evidence of food deserts outside of the United States. The modern era has created new challenges, such as the widespread concerns about overnutrition and obesity and food contamination. Health geographers have increasingly engaged with food issues through the lens of obesity and obesity prevention.