Veggie Van Pilot Study: Impact of a Mobile Produce Market for Underserved Communities on Fruit and Vegetable Access and Intake. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Leone, Lucia A.; Haynes-Maslow, Lindsey; Ammerman, Alice S.
• Is Part Of: Journal of hunger & environmental nutrition. Volume 12:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 89
• Page End: 100
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Mobile market -- fruits and vegetables -- lower-income -- underserved -- food access; Nutrition -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Hunger -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Food supply -- Periodicals; 613.2
• DOI: 10.1080/19320248.2016.1175399
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1932-0248

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We conducted a pilot evaluation of the Veggie Van, a mobile produce market that brings weekly boxes of reduced-cost locally grown fruits and vegetables (F&V) to lower-income communities and offers cooking and nutrition education to customers. We conducted surveys just prior to starting Veggie Van at each of 3 sites and again at 2–3 months. F&V intake was measured with a 2-question item and a 10-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in a subset of participants. At baseline, average servings/day of F&V was 4.9 (SD = 2.6, n = 60). At follow-up, individuals who reported shopping at Veggie Van frequently (n = 32) increased their F&V consumption by 0.41 servings/day compared with a decrease of −1.19 for those who rarely/never used Veggie Van (n = 27), a total difference of 1.6 servings/day (P = .01). There were no statistically significant differences in F&V consumption between groups based on the FFQ measure. Frequent shoppers reported additional health improvements and increases in their ability to buy enough F&V. We conclude that offering weekly boxes of affordable F&V paired with education in underserved communities may improve F&V consumption for frequent program users.