Exposure to infection when accessing groceries reveals racial and socioeconomic inequities in navigating the pandemic

Abstract

Disasters often create inequitable consequences along racial and socioeconomic lines, but a pandemic is distinctive in that communities must navigate the ongoing hazards of infection exposure. We examine this for accessing essential needs, specifically groceries. We propose three strategies for mitigating risk when accessing groceries: visit grocery stores less often; prioritize generalist grocery stores; seek out stores whose clientele have lower infection rates. The study uses a unique combination of data to examine racial and socioeconomic inequities in the ability to employ these strategies in the census block groups of greater Boston, MA in April 2020, including cellphone-generated GPS records to observe store visits, a resident survey, localized infection rates, and demographic and infrastructural characteristics. We also present an original quantification of the amount of infection risk exposure when visiting grocery stores using visits, volume of visitors at each store, and infection rates of those visitors' communities. Each of the three strategies for mitigating exposure were employed in Boston, though differentially by community. Communities with more Black and Latinx residents and lower income made relatively more grocery store visits. This was best explained by differential use of grocery delivery services. Exposure and exposure per visit were higher in communities with more Black and Latinx residents and higher infection rates even when accounting for strategies that diminish exposure. The findings highlight two forms of inequities: using wealth to transfer risk to others through grocery deliveries; and behavioral segregation by race that makes it difficult for marginalized communities to avoid hazards.

Figure 1

(A) There were moderate drops in total visits to grocery stores at the beginning of the pandemic, with a partial bounceback, accompanied by (B) a drop in the percentage of visits to one-dollar sign stores and (C) an increase in the percentage of two-dollar sign stores.

Figure 2

Disparities in grocery store visits were driven in part by delivery services. (A) More affluent residents reported making fewer trips than others but substantially more delivery orders, resulting in more total purchases. Meanwhile, (B) lower income survey respondents were more likely to report working in delivery services and (C) SafeGraph estimated a higher number of delivery workers per capita in census block groups with more Black and Latinx Residents.

Figure 3

Communities of color experienced (A) more exposure to infection through visits to grocery stores and (B) more exposure per grocery store visit, especially in Boston proper (see insets; made with leaflet package in R).