142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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SNAP Participants and Shopping at Farmers Markets: Findings from the Farmers Market Client Survey

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 1:10 PM - 1:30 PM

Mustafa Karakus, PhD , Health Studies, WESTAT, Rockville, MD
Roline Milfort, PhD , Health Studies Division, WESTAT, Rockville, MD
Keith Macallum, PhD , WESTAT, Rockville, MD
Eric Williams, PhD , Food and Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture, Alexandria, VA
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
INTRODUCTION: Farmers markets (FMs) play a major role in promoting locally grown fruits and vegetables to members of community, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants.    While the number of FMs and SNAP authorized FMs continue to grow, SNAP redemptions still account for only 0.01 percent of all SNAP redemptions.  Because SNAP serves millions of Americans, it is imperative to understand why so few SNAP participants redeem benefits at farmers markets.

APPROACH:  A two stage sampling process was used to administer a survey to a random sample of SNAP participants. The sample included SNAP participants who shopped at selected FMs between late August and mid-October 2013 and those who did not shop at these FMs. The survey comprised of five topic areas including where participants shopped for groceries including fresh fruits and vegetables; whether they shopped at the reference FM; whether they shopped at any FM; what their reasons were for not shopping at any FM; and socio-demographic characteristics including participation in other nutrition assistance programs.

RESULTS: The findings related to fruit and vegetable shopping behaviors of SNAP participants will be presented, including reasons for infrequent shopping or not shopping at FMs.  

DISCUSSION: Understanding what influences SNAP participants’ shopping decisions at FMs will allow public health practitioners to develop effective strategies for promoting use of FMs among SNAP participants.   

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Describe shopping patterns for fruit and vegetables among SNAP participants identify factors that affect shopping at Farmers Markets and use of SNAP benefits among SNAP participants Formulate policies to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables through Farmers markets among SNAP participants

Keyword(s): Food Security, Low-Income

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a senior researcher with 15 years of experience in health-related research and evaluation. I have been the project director or director of operations for multiple research and program evaluation studies. My role on research projects includes the conduct and/or oversight of research design, training, development of research protocols, data collection management, and report writing. My research interest include child development, mental health, nutrition, health and fitness.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3247.1: Supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) at Farmers Markets