Farmers’ market shopping and dietary behaviours among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants

Abstract

Objective: Because farmers' markets include a variety of fruits and vegetables, shopping at farmers' markets would likely improve diet quality among lowincome consumers, as well as promote sustainable direct farm-to-consumer business models. However, not much is known about how to promote farmers' market shopping among low-income consumers. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper was to examine barriers to and facilitators of shopping at farmers' markets and associations between shopping at farmers' markets and self-reported dietary behaviours (fruit and vegetable, sugar-sweetened beverage and fast-food consumption) and BMI. Design: Cross-sectional analyses of associations between farmers' market shopping frequency, awareness of markets, access to markets, dietary behaviours and BMI.

Farmers' Market Utilization among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients in New Orleans, Louisiana: Preliminary Findings

“…This level of FM use is similar to that observed in three other FM studies of predominantly African American, low-income women in four distinct populations: two in North Carolina, 20,37 one in Washington DC, 20 and one in southern Florida. 38 In North Carolina, Jilcott Pitts et al (2015) in WIC.…”

“…If more than 10% of data were missing for any given participant, the entire survey was omitted from the final analysis. 37 Once complete, the dataset was de-identified and imported into a statistical analysis software package for analysis (SPSS, IBM Corp.). Frequency distributions and measures of central tendency (means, standard deviations [SDs] and medians), were used to describe demographic characteristics of the study population and to compare FM and non-FM user groups.…”

Perceived Barriers and Facilitators of Farm-to-Consumer Retail Outlet Use Among Participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Alabama

“…Despite the limited number of studies that have examined barriers and facilitators of using FTC retail outlets, findings have been consistent. 28–33 …”

“…This suggests that location may significantly influence an individual’s decision to use or not use an FTC retail outlet. Misyak et al 30 and Jilcott Pitts et al 33 assessed factors that inhibit use of farmers’ markets among SNAP recipients in Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. Both studies found that outlet location and lack of transportation are 2 important barriers to farmers’ market use among SNAP recipients.…”

“…25–27 A smaller body of scientific literature exists on perceived barriers and facilitators to purchasing fresh produce from an FTC retail outlets among lower income individuals and families. 28–33 The research aims to contribute to scientific literature on the behavioral implications of FTC retail outlet usage by identifying perceived barriers and facilitators to FTC retail outlet use among women who participate in the Birmingham, Alabama, WIC program. Additionally, associations between barriers and facilitators reported and fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake will be examined.…”