Grocery store access

• Healthy food retail: grocery stores and fresh food markets that offer fresh produce
• Healthy eating: Regular intake of foods that make up a pattern of eating associated with positive health outcomes.
  • Examples of these foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grain, and protein foods ¹

¹ Government of Canada. (2023). Health Canada. Section 1 Foundation for healthy eating - Canada’s Food Guide.

The connection between food access and health

Many factors can influence healthy eating. If people can’t afford the food they need or don’t have grocery stores nearby, that can influence individual decisions on diet and eating habits.

Research shows that when food is hard to access, people are more likely to eat less fruits and vegetables, increasing the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.^{1, 2}

Who faces the biggest food access gaps

Poor food access contributes to food insecurity. In Vancouver, the gap ranges widely by neighbourhood. In Sunset, 43% of residents reported being food insecure in 2023, compared with just 10% in Kitsilano.³

Across Canada, food insecurity is more common for people with:⁴

• Low incomes
• Renters
• Single mothers
• People with disabilities
• Black and Indigenous communities

How we identified priority zones for healthy food access

Mapping where grocery stores are – and aren’t – helps us see where action is needed. The project mapped grocery store locations and gave each city block an access score.

Blocks with low access were then overlaid with blocks where the median income was below the living wage, since income strongly affects the ability to buy healthy food. These areas with low grocery access scores and low median incomes are called Food Retail Priority Zones PDF file (14.8 MB).

¹ My Health My Community. (2019). “Healthy Eating and the Neighbourhood Food Environment in Richmond”

² Mozaffarian, Dariush, et al. (2012). “Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits”

³ British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. (2023). BC SPEAK Round 3 Survey.

⁴ PROOF. (2024). New data on household food insecurity in 2023

Most of the food retail priority zones are in southeast and east Vancouver, including parts of:

• Marpole
• Oakridge
• Sunset
• Victoria-Fraserview
• Killarney
• Renfrew Collingwood
• Hastings-Sunrise

There are also smaller areas on the west side in:

• West Point Grey
• Dunbar-Southlands
• Arbutus-Ridge

Improving healthy food access requires action from all levels of government, but cities can help by influencing where new grocery stores open and by supporting existing ones.

An initial scan of the findings highlighted actions we could take, including:

• Updating zoning and design rules so it's easier to open grocery stores and food markets
• Offering grants to improve storefronts in priority areas
• Providing technical help for small food retailers
• Supporting community-led ideas such as non-profit food stores, pop-up markets, or mobile grocers

We're looking at land-use policies and programs to find the best ways to improve access to healthy food in the local context. The Equitable Access to Healthy Food Retail PDF file (14.8 MB) report can help bring health and equity into urban planning and community programming.

By putting these policies in place and supporting community programs, we can help make grocery stores easier to access and create a fairer, healthier food system.