Introduction: In-store promotion of food products leads to more frequent purchases. Product promotion can vary by store characteristics. We compared marketing strategies used by grocery stores to promote fruit and vegetables (FV) in neighborhoods with varying socio-economic and racial/ethnic characteristics.

Methods: Data was collected from a random sample of 12 large grocery stores from the same national chain located within a 15-mile radius of Downtown Phoenix. Store zip-code level median household income was used to classify stores as located in lower (<$50,000) or higher (>$50,000) income areas. Stores located in neighborhoods with more than 50% Hispanic population were classified as majority Hispanic serving. The ProPromo tool was adapted to document the presence and promotion of FV at 8 distinct locations throughout each store. Types of promotion strategies documented included displays, price promotions, size, or themes.

Results: FV were present at the entrance, islands, checkouts, and produce section; while fruits were promoted in all of these locations, vegetables were promotion in fewer locations. All stores used size and price promotion to promote FV; display was used to promote vegetables in 2 stores and fruits in all stores. On average stores promoted 32 fruits and 38 vegetables. Stores serving higher and lower income areas promoted similar numbers of FV. However, stores in Hispanic majority neighborhoods promoted fewer FV (66) in comparison to those in Hispanic minority areas (73).

Conclusion: Fruit and vegetable promotion disparity associated with neighborhood demographics may contribute to disparities in fruit and vegetable consumption.

Mapping food retail environments is a popular technique among public health researchers concerned with urban and rural access to nutritious foods. Three decades of such scholarship from the US, UK and Europe has popularized notions like food deserts and food swamps and measurement scales like the Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI). Today, these concepts and tools are increasingly applied to middle- and lower-income countries. On the whole, this is a welcome development. However, current application of these tools has several biases and limitations. To demonstrate these shortcomings, this session presents a series of GIS maps of the food retail environment of the Guatemalan city of Quetzaltenango. It starts with a standard map of retailers typically included in an RFEI study, such as supermarkets and corner stores. Subsequent maps add elements that are missed by the methodology. One map includes mobile/ambulatory food retailers. Another adds food retail available only during certain times of day, week, or year. A third delineates women supplying the city with fresh produce and home-cooked foods. In all, the maps show that the standard RFEI tool borrowed from the US and applied to Guatemala accounts for only 20% of Quetzaltenango’s food retail environment. In missing 80% of the retailers, the standard RFEI map also misses women’s contribution to the city’s edible options as a countervailing, nutrient-dense force against a food environment saturated by brand-name junk foods and beverages. Finally, a standard RFEI tool can lead to policy recommendations that risk further marginalizing the least powerful actors in food systems, like corner store operators, without achieving desired improvements in nutritional outcomes. This presentation cautions against food-environment mapping methodologies that travel, demonstrating the need to validate such public health tools in local contexts (in the US and abroad) to reduce the risk of them doing more harm than good.

Food-related pro-environmental behaviors are behaviors related to the purchase, use, or disposal of food or food packaging that seek to minimize environmental impacts. This study investigates whether the pandemic affected food-related pro-environmental behaviors, and identifies factors associated with engaging in or stopping these behaviors. In August-September 2020, we administered an online survey to a sample of 1,510 US adults representative of the US population with respect to race and ethnicity. We asked about five food-related pro-environmental behaviors in the year before the pandemic and during the pandemic: selecting a vegetarian meal, consuming local products, selecting animal products with sustainability labels, buying products with low packaging, and using reusable shopping bags. We also asked about food waste. Prior to analysis, we weighted our sample to reflect the national income distribution. Most respondents reported consuming local products, selecting animal products with sustainability labels, buying products with low packaging, and using reusable shopping bags in both the year before the pandemic and during the pandemic. However, slightly fewer people purchased local, chose animal products with sustainability labels, and used reusable shopping bags during the pandemic as compared to the year prior. The proportion of respondents choosing a vegetarian dish increased from 46.3% to 49.4%. Over half of respondents reported throwing away less food than normal during the pandemic (52.1%). Being age 55+, possessing a college or advanced degree, and household food insecurity predicted engagement with more food-related pro-environmental behaviors during the pandemic. Household food insecurity and experiencing a job disruption predicted discontinuing a greater number of these behaviors. The findings indicate that the impacts of the pandemic on food-related pro-environmental behaviors were generally modest, but experienced most acutely by economically-vulnerable households. The research establishes a foundation for future investigation and provides rich information to guide development of interventions to promote food-related pro-environmental behaviors.

Objective: Measure most frequent food purchasing locations in the South End of Albany, New York, a low-income majority-minority neighborhood classified as a food desert, and compare differences in the implementation of COVID-19 safety precautions at these locations.

Methods: Over six weeks in October and November 2020, mask usage was observed at neighborhood corner stores and the two nearest supermarkets (Market 32 and Walmart). Data included type of mask wear (i.e. mask worn properly, nose out, mask visible but not worn, and no mask visible), sex, age group, day, and time.

Results: The South End Community Health Survey of 185 households in 2 public housing complexes observed residents were more likely to visit corner stores weekly or more for food (50%) versus supermarkets outside the neighborhood (39%) (p=.04). At Walmart and Market 32 respectively, 84.4% (n=775) and 74.6% (n=752) of adults observed wore a mask covering their mouth and nose. Significantly less people wore masks over their mouths and noses at corner stores (48.9%; n=777) than both market sites (p<.0001).

Conclusion: In addition to lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables, obtaining food in a food desert neighborhood may have placed an added health burden on underserved communities via potential increased COVID-19 exposures, offering an additional social determinant of health pathway for the increased impact of the pandemic on communities of color.