Associations Between Farmers’ Market Shopping Behaviors and Objectively-Measured and Self-Reported Fruit and Vegetable Intake in a Diverse Sample of Farmers’ Market Shoppers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake is associated with reduced risk of numerous chronic diseases. The community food environment can support FV intake through enhanced access via food outlets, such as farmers’ markets. This paper examines cross-sectional associations between farmers’ market shopping behaviors and objectively-measured and self-reported FV intake to better understand whether farmers’ market shopping behavior relates to FV intake among farmers’ market shoppers. Methods: Farmers’ market shoppers were surveyed at 17 farmers’ markets in rural North Carolina and New York City. A questionnaire assessed self-reported FV intake and three measures of farmers’ market shopping behavior: (1) frequency, (2) variety of FV purchased, and (3) dollars spent on FV. Skin carotenoid status, a non-invasive biomarker for FV intake, was objectively measured using pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy. Associations between shopping behaviors at farmers’ markets and FV intake were examined using regression models that controlled for individual demographics (age, sex, race, smoking status, education, income, and site). Results: Farmers’ market shoppers in New York City purchased a greater variety of FV and had higher skin carotenoid scores than in North Carolina. There was a positive, statistically significant association between self-reported frequency of shopping at farmers’ markets and both self-reported and objectively assessed FV intake. We also observed that variety of FV purchased and farmers’ market spending were positively associated with self-reported FV intake, but not skin carotenoid status.Conclusion: Those who shop more frequently at a farmers’ markets, purchase a greater variety of FV, and spend more money on FV have higher self-reported, and in some cases, higher objectively measured FV intake. Further research is needed to understand these associations and test causality.

Use of the Spectroscopy-Based Veggie Meter® to Objectively Assess Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Low-Income Adults

“…Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to identify other demographic and psychosocial determinants of VM scores. Warranting examination are psychosocial variables consistently shown to influence adult FV intake as measured by self-report, e.g., FV access, availability, and taste preferences [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ,…”

“…Data are increasingly available on VM scores in diverse adult samples ( Table 1 ) [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Guidance on the interpretation of scores also has been published.…”