Fruit and vegetable consumption hel

Fruit and vegetable consumption helps prevent chronic diseases responsible for the major causes of illness and death in the United States (1–3). Despite the known benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, the typical US diet fails to meet recommendations (1). Substantial disparities in fruit and vegetable consumption exist by region, race, and income (4); these are mirrored in disparities in health outcomes and disease prevalence (5,6).

Limitations in community food sources and lack of transportation to reach food outlets may be responsible for some disparities in fruit and vegetable consumption (7–10). Residents of minority communities experience more problems in accessing healthful foods than do residents of predominantly white neighborhoods (11–14).

Suggested solutions to disparities in food access include direct-to-consumer marketing efforts, such as farmers markets, mobile produce trucks, community gardens, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares (15). CSA allows community residents to purchase local food directly from a farmer by buying a “share” of the farm’s anticipated production at the beginning of the growing season. Shareholders receive a box of produce each week. The required lump sum payment often restricts CSA programs to high-income consumers. Although some variations on CSA programs developed for low-income families have been described (16,17), their evaluation has been limited (18).

The primary objective of this pilot feasibility study was to test whether a program providing a summer’s CSA share and supportive programming around food purchase and food preparation would be associated with increased fruit and vegetable household inventory variety and increased fruit and vegetable consumption in low-income, minority families. Data are being used to determine programming revisions necessary to design a larger trial.