Abstract
Corn Belt US has constantly showed low fruit and vegetable (F & V) consumption. One of the policy suggestions to increase F & V consumption is to implement government food subsidies for low- and no-income families. In this study, we conducted a household food-choice survey study and the results suggested that both Supplemental Nutrition Assistance and Women, Infant, and Children programs had significant effects on increasing F & V consumption. However, those effects varied by family characteristics, dietary habit, and living environment. Moreover, exercise habits, family support, and the willingness to make healthy choices had more influences on increasing F &V intake than did demographic background, socio-economic variables, and living environment variables. We also found an inconsistent pattern of how nutrition knowledge affects F & V consumption.
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Notes
SNAP is a government-sponsored welfare program [administered by the US Department of Agriculture-Food and Nutrition Service (USDA-FNS) under the Farm Bill] designed to offer financial assistance for the families in need to purchase foods (USDA 2013b).
In 2013, USDA-ERS abandoned the original “food desert” definition and updated the food access information in the new Food Access Research Atlas. However, this study was conducted in 2012; thus our definition of Region 1 was based on the original definition of “Food Desert” by the USDA-ERS.
2: Towns of 1,000–5,000 residents, 3: city of 5,000–10,000 residents.
Based on the definition in Table 3, the differences of average income between Group 3 and other two groups is approximately $15,000.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the survey participants, grocers, and store managers for their input. We would also like to express our gratitude to Mrs. Kristin Biskeborn for her support and trust. We also want to thank the staff and extension specialists at South Dakota State for their help to administrate the survey. We truly appreciate Mrs. Julie Abraham’s assistance in editing. Finally, we want to thank Ms. Devin Jacob for her input. This study was funded by the South Dakota Department of Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Chang, KL., Zastrow, M., Zdorovtsov, C. et al. Do SNAP and WIC Programs Encourage More Fruit and Vegetable Intake? A Household Survey in the Northern Great Plains. J Fam Econ Iss 36, 477–490 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9412-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9412-5