Abstract
BackgroundOffering financial incentives promotes increases in fruit and vegetable purchases in farmers’ markets and supermarkets. Yet, little is understood about whether food-insecure adults purchase more fruits and vegetables as a result of receiving financial incentives in mobile produce market settings.MethodsIn 2018–2019, Food on the Move provided a 50% discount to customers using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase fruit and vegetables from 16 market locations in Rhode Island (n = 412 market occasions). We used mixed multivariable linear regression to estimate the difference in total dollar sales per transaction per month between SNAP transactions and non-SNAP transactions. We also estimated the difference in out-of-pocket dollar sales per transaction per month between SNAP and non-SNAP transactions, less the 50% discount. This reflects the actual amount spent on fresh fruits and vegetables purchased per visit. In both models, we controlled for the number of market sites per month, with fixed effects for quarter and year. We estimated random intercept variance for date of transaction and market site to adjust for clustering.ResultsIn 2018–2019, the majority of market transactions (total n = 13,165) were SNAP transactions [n = 7.988 (63.0%)]. On average, customers spent $17.38 (SD = 16.69) on fruits and vegetables per transaction per month. However, customers using SNAP benefits spent significantly more on FVs per transaction per month [$22.01 (SD = 17.97)] compared to those who did not use SNAP benefits [9.81 (SD = 10.68)] (β = $10.88; 95% CI: 10.18, 11.58). Similarly, out-of-pocket dollar sales per SNAP transaction per month (i.e., less the 50% discount) were significantly higher [$11.42 (SD = 9.44)] relative to non-SNAP transactions [$9.40 (SD = 9.33)] (β = $1.85; 95% CI: 1.44, 2.27).ConclusionsFinancial incentives contributed to higher fruit and vegetable purchases among low-income customers who shop at mobile produce markets by making produce more affordable. Higher spending on fruits and vegetables may promote healthy diet behaviors and reduce chronic disease risk among food-insecure adults.
Highlights
Offering financial incentives promotes increases in fruit and vegetable purchases in farmers’ markets and supermarkets
The average total dollar sales per month was higher among those using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits [$14,654 (SD = 8649)] than customers not using SNAP benefits [$4002 (SD = 2413)] (Fig. 1)
Based on our regression model, spending on fruits and vegetables was significantly higher among SNAP transactions [$22.01 (SD = 17.97)] compared to non-SNAP transactions [$9.81 (SD = 10.68)] (β = $10.88; 95% CI: 10.18, 11.58) (Table 2)
Summary
Offering financial incentives promotes increases in fruit and vegetable purchases in farmers’ markets and supermarkets. Little is understood about whether food-insecure adults purchase more fruits and vegetables as a result of receiving financial incentives in mobile produce market settings. Participation in SNAP helps alleviate food insecurity, but may not be enough to help lowincome adults purchase and consume adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables [11]. Previous studies suggest that cost and access are the main barriers preventing SNAP participants from purchasing and consuming fresh fruits and vegetables [12, 13]. Mobile produce markets are portable markets designed to mitigate these financial and physical barriers to healthy diet behaviors by selling affordable fruits and vegetables in areas with limited access to fresh produce [15]. A recent systematic review indicates that mobile produce market use is associated with greater access to and higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, though results are not always consistent [15]
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