Social and ethnic-racial inequities of physical accessibility to famers' markets in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Abstract

Farmers' markets are important spaces for the commercialization of fruits and vegetables, which access by the urban population is considered one of the key aspects of healthy cities. This study adopts an ecological approach with geographic-spatial emphasis to describe accessibility to farmers' markets in Porto Alegre-RS, by four different modes of transport (walking, bicycle, bus, and car) and their associations with income and race/skin color. The distribution of markets across the city is more balanced than other food establishments, although physical accessibility is highly uneven across modes of transport: the ability to reach a market on foot in 10 minutes or less is restricted to no more than 25% of the population, while almost 90% can do it by driving a car. The study found a direct and positive association between levels of accessibility to farmers' markets and income: wealthier areas can reach fairs in less time using any mode of transport than poorer ones (p<0.001). Regions with a majority of white inhabitants have better accessibility to the fairs on foot, by bicycle, and by bus (p<0.01) than regions with a majority of Black, Indigenous, or yellow populations.