Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Research indicates that low-income consumers are less likely to shop at farmers’ markets and that these individuals are often those with the lowest intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. This project aimed to improve familiarity with farmers’ markets among low-income consumers through guided tours o...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Mississippi State University
2018-02-01
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Series: | Journal of Human Sciences and Extension |
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Online Access: | https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol6/iss1/9/ |
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author | Annie Hardison-Moody J. Dara Bloom Lorelei Jones Tony Benavente |
author_facet | Annie Hardison-Moody J. Dara Bloom Lorelei Jones Tony Benavente |
author_sort | Annie Hardison-Moody |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Research indicates that low-income consumers are less likely to shop at farmers’ markets and that these individuals are often those with the lowest intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. This project aimed to improve familiarity with farmers’ markets among low-income consumers through guided tours of farmers’ markets, implemented as part of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). EFNEP Program Assistants (PAs) in five counties in North Carolina received training and partnered with a local Cooperative Extension agent to deliver a farmers’ market tour at the mid-point of a nine-lesson series on healthy eating. Forty-eight participants completed the series, completing a pre-and post-class series behavior change assessment and dietary recall. At entry, 54% of participants said they ate food that came from a local farm, compared to 94% at exit. Interviews with all PAs found that participants: plan to visit the farmers’ market again in the future, tried new recipes with foods purchased at the market, and learned how to talk with and ask questions of farmers’ market vendors. We argue that farmers’ market tours are a promising strategy for increasing familiarity with local foods, when carried out as part of a series of nutrition education classes. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:48:59Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-a024b85f2308453a8277f210ce9a20f5 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2325-5226 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:48:59Z |
publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
publisher | Mississippi State University |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Human Sciences and Extension |
spelling | doaj.art-a024b85f2308453a8277f210ce9a20f52022-12-22T04:11:11ZengMississippi State UniversityJournal of Human Sciences and Extension2325-52262018-02-0161112https://doi.org/10.54718/BCVV9545Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons LearnedAnnie Hardison-Moody0J. Dara Bloom1Lorelei Jones2Tony Benavente3NC State UniversityNC State UniversityNC State UniversityNC State UniversityResearch indicates that low-income consumers are less likely to shop at farmers’ markets and that these individuals are often those with the lowest intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. This project aimed to improve familiarity with farmers’ markets among low-income consumers through guided tours of farmers’ markets, implemented as part of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). EFNEP Program Assistants (PAs) in five counties in North Carolina received training and partnered with a local Cooperative Extension agent to deliver a farmers’ market tour at the mid-point of a nine-lesson series on healthy eating. Forty-eight participants completed the series, completing a pre-and post-class series behavior change assessment and dietary recall. At entry, 54% of participants said they ate food that came from a local farm, compared to 94% at exit. Interviews with all PAs found that participants: plan to visit the farmers’ market again in the future, tried new recipes with foods purchased at the market, and learned how to talk with and ask questions of farmers’ market vendors. We argue that farmers’ market tours are a promising strategy for increasing familiarity with local foods, when carried out as part of a series of nutrition education classes.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol6/iss1/9/local foodsfarmers' marketsefnepnutrition education |
spellingShingle | Annie Hardison-Moody J. Dara Bloom Lorelei Jones Tony Benavente Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned Journal of Human Sciences and Extension local foods farmers' markets efnep nutrition education |
title | Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned |
title_full | Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned |
title_fullStr | Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned |
title_full_unstemmed | Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned |
title_short | Incorporating Farmers’ Market Tours into the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: Best Practices and Lessons Learned |
title_sort | incorporating farmers market tours into the expanded food and nutrition education program best practices and lessons learned |
topic | local foods farmers' markets efnep nutrition education |
url | https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol6/iss1/9/ |
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