The Veggie Van program was developed as a partnership between the nonprofit organization, Community Nutrition Partnership (CNP), and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). CNP was formed in 2008 at the peak of the recession to help people suffering from economic instability maintain healthy diets.
CNP initially offered Cooking Matters classes to lower-income communities; Cooking Matters is a hands-on cooking and nutrition education program that was developed by Share Our Strength, a national anti-hunger nonprofit, to help families stretch their food dollars by preparing healthy, economical meals at home. Families who attended Cooking Matters classes received free food to cook the healthy recipes they tried in class at home.
CNP initially offered Cooking Matters classes to lower-income communities; Cooking Matters is a hands-on cooking and nutrition education program that was developed by Share Our Strength, a national anti-hunger nonprofit, to help families stretch their food dollars by preparing healthy, economical meals at home. Families who attended Cooking Matters classes received free food to cook the healthy recipes they tried in class at home.
After the six weeks were over, CNP wanted a way to continue bringing healthy food to these families using a more sustainable "market-based" approach. To determine what that approach should be, our research team conducted qualitative research to explore some of the programming ideas proposed by CNP and understand the best ways to improve access to healthy food in lower income communities.
We conducted 13 focus groups with 105 low-income individuals across five North Carolina counties. We asked participants about various fruit and vegetable (F&V) access strategies, including mobile markets (like Veggie Van), farmers markets, and community gardens--and how they thought these programs could reduce barriers to F&V consumption.
"... a mobile market program delivering fresh F&V to conveniently located community sites was deemed the most highly acceptable to the community members."
CNP was also interested in the possibility of a non-profit restaurant to sell healthy prepared food at fast food prices. We found that a mobile market program delivering fresh F&V to conveniently located community sites was deemed the most highly acceptable to community members. All participants agreed mobile market produce needed to be high quality and fresh, which was not the case for other programs attempting to bring F&V access to their communities. Additionally, good customer service, trust of vendors, good relationships with MM staff, and having tips for storing and cooking produce would increase the likelihood of people shopping at MMs.
CNP was also interested in the possibility of a non-profit restaurant to sell healthy prepared food at fast food prices. We found that a mobile market program delivering fresh F&V to conveniently located community sites was deemed the most highly acceptable to community members. All participants agreed mobile market produce needed to be high quality and fresh, which was not the case for other programs attempting to bring F&V access to their communities. Additionally, good customer service, trust of vendors, good relationships with MM staff, and having tips for storing and cooking produce would increase the likelihood of people shopping at MMs.
| Low-income individuals’ perceptions about fruit and vegetable access programs: A qualitative study |
In addition to discussing preferred food access programs, we asked participants about individual and community level barriers to eating fresh F&V. Participants reported not having enough money to purchase F&V, not having transportation to get to stores with high quality produce, or having family members who did not like certain vegetables.
They said lower-income communities were less likely to have large supermarkets, and smaller stores did not have affordable prices and/or did not sell high-quality produce. Participants also lamented changes to the food environment: more fast food, fewer produce vendors or individual farmers selling fresh produce, and changes to the food culture--young people don't cook anymore and are not exposed to different varieties of fresh produce or gardening.
They said lower-income communities were less likely to have large supermarkets, and smaller stores did not have affordable prices and/or did not sell high-quality produce. Participants also lamented changes to the food environment: more fast food, fewer produce vendors or individual farmers selling fresh produce, and changes to the food culture--young people don't cook anymore and are not exposed to different varieties of fresh produce or gardening.
| A Qualitative Study of Perceived Barriers to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Low-Income Populations, North Carolina, 2011 |