探討食物環境的多重性質：從食物沙漠到食物雨林？

Abstract

一九九〇年代以後，地理學界出現了一個新興的分支學科──健康地理學，探討由食物近用程度不一而導致的健康不平等問題成為其中熱門的研究主題之一。與此同時，一九九五年「食物沙漠」一詞被鑄造出來，它的原始定義是「居民在近用健康食物方面遇到物理和經濟障礙的地理區域」，受到了英美等西方國家乃至於日本等東亞國家研究者的廣泛討論。本論文旨在從健康地理學的角度探討食物沙漠框架引發的健康不平等現象在臺灣的情況，並藉此探討食物環境的多重性質。研究方法包括空間分析、多變量分析、質性資料分析和批判分析，研究區設定在北北基都會區。實證研究結果指出，雖然空間分析方法顯示局部地區符合食物沙漠的定義，但多變量分析方法未能證實整套食物沙漠框架在本研究區造成廣泛性問題。另一方面，多變量分析方法暗示存在著除了物理和經濟障礙之外的因素導致食物近用問題，而這些因素可以透過質性資料分析方法進一步識別出來。基於上述資訊和過去文獻回顧成果，本論文利用批判分析方法得出以下結論：目前在國際上被廣泛接受的食物沙漠定義並不適用於北北基都會區的情境。相反地，在臺灣等一些國家和地區，更適合使用多重性質（包括空間性、社會性、心理性和技術性）的食物沙漠概念，甚至可以考慮將它描述為「食物雨林」。這一個隱喻是指：即使身處食物環境豐富的地方，市民也無法近用所有生鮮食物，而是只能在有限的條件下得到其中的一小部分，而引發隱性的食物近用問題。本論文建議將這個新的食物環境隱喻應用於描述北北基都會區的情況，並建議未來進一步探索食物雨林一詞在東南亞都市的適用性。Since the 1990s, “health geography” has emerged as a new branch of geography. The study of health inequality due to food accessibility has become a popular topic in health geography. Meanwhile, the term “food desert” was coined in 1995, originally defined as a “geographical area where residents face physical and economic barriers to accessing healthy food.” Researchers in Western and East Asian countries such as Japan have widely discussed this concept. This thesis aims to explore the health inequality caused by the food desert framework in Taiwan from the health geography perspective and to investigate the multifaceted natures of the food environment. The research methods include spatial analysis, multivariate analysis, qualitative data analysis, and critical analysis, with the research area set in Greater Taipei. Empirical research results show that although spatial analysis methods indicate that some local areas meet the definition of a food desert, multivariate analysis methods fail to confirm that the entire food desert framework causes a pervasive problem in the research area. On the other hand, multivariate analysis methods suggest that factors other than physical and economic barriers lead to food access problems, which can be further identified through qualitative data analysis methods. Based on the above information and past literature review results, this thesis concludes through critical analysis methods: the current internationally accepted definition of a food desert does not apply to the Greater Taipei context. On the contrary, in some countries and regions, such as Taiwan, it is more appropriate to use the concept of a food desert with multiple characteristics (including spatial, social, psychological, and technological) or even to describe it as a “food rainforest.” This metaphor means that even in a rich food environment, citizens cannot access all fresh food but only get a small portion under limited conditions, leading to hidden food access problems. This thesis proposes to apply this new food environment metaphor to describe the situation in Greater Taipei and to further explore its applicability in Southeast Asian cities in the future.