Run initial simulation step at initialization to set default food access scores #48
Description
Currently, when simulations start at step 0, the food access score is set to null. It would be helpful if, upon entering the 'world', the model calculates and sets a base value for the current distribution of food and stores.
Proposal:
- Run the first simulation step automatically during the initialization process to populate the food access scores for all locations.
- Do not record this as a separate step in the database; use it only to set the initial values.
- This approach also creates a foundation to calculate initial food access scores for new locations once preprocessing functionality for initialization is developed (Enable simulation initialization for new locations using census data in preprocessing module #42). It will likely make sense to wrap the pseudo-step into the same logic.
Benefits:
- Ensures simulations start with meaningful food access scores.
- Provides a pathway to support new location initialization in the future.
Requested Action:
- Integrate the first simulation step into the initialization logic so that food access scores are populated by default.
- Ensure this does not create an extra tracked step in the database, but serves only for score initialization.
- Plan for future extensibility to support new location preprocessing.