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The Fresh Food Access by Census Tract layer was created for the Strategic Plan Housing and Neighborhood Livability Dashboard to estimate access to businesses that sell fresh foods throughout the county. View the Fairfax County Strategic Plan Dashboards webpage to learn about other outcome areas.
The distance of a half mile is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Research Atlas, which defines low food access if household lives further than 0.5 miles from the nearest grocery store.
The term "fresh food location" is defined as businesses that are open year-round and sell unprocessed or raw fruit, vegetables, and meat.
Businesses are annually checked to confirm that they are still open and meet the criteria for selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat. Excluded business include convenience stores that offer more or only processed and pre-packaged items. Farmers markets are also excluded as they are not open year-round but are noted as being an excellent community resource for healthy and unprocessed foods.
Contact: Department of Management and Budget, DMBDataAnalytics@fairfaxcounty.gov
Data Accessibility: Public
Update Frequency: Annual
Creation Date: August 1, 2025