Changes in neighborhood residents' fruit and vegetable purchases after the opening of new supermarkets in New Orleans

INTRODUCTION –Although substantial previous research shows an association between access to supermarkets and fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, very few studies have examined changes over time, for example, after a new supermarket has been introduced. This study reports on a pre-post natural experiment conducted to examine the influence of five new supermarkets on neighborhood residents' purchasing behavior.

METHODS –A random address-based sample of New Orleans residents responded to a telephone survey in 2011 on food purchasing and consumption patterns, transportation, and demographic information. This was repeated in 2013 with another random sample of respondents. Between data collection rounds, five new supermarkets opened in New Orleans. Respondents within 2 kilometers of the new stores were selected in 2013 (N=566) and retrospectively selected from the 2011 data (N=685) for use as the analytic sample. Logistic regression was conducted to assess changes in weekly purchasing of fresh FV’s in the five targeted neighborhoods.

RESULTS –Controlling for demographic variables (age, race, gender, level of education received, BMI, household size, employment status, receipt of food assistance, car ownership), analyses showed respondents within 2km of a new store were 1.4 (95% CI : 1.1, 1.9) times as likely to have purchased fresh FV from a supermarket within the past week than those respondents in the same neighborhood two years earlier, before the supermarket had opened.

DISCUSSION – The results suggest that new supermarkets in New Orleans neighborhoods increased the purchase of fresh FV by residents. Further analyses will investigate if fruit and vegetable consumption increased.