Program That Encourages Healthier Eating Among Low-Income Families Is Effective

Access to healthy foods, especially fruits and vegetables is often limited in low-income communities. Now a study by a North Carolina medical center shows that community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs that link consumers to a local farm’s produce during the growing season may provide an solution to the problem. The small feasibility study involved low-income women with children evenly divided into an intervention group and a control group. Intervention participants – but not the control group – received a free box of fresh produce for 16 weeks, educational sessions, a farm tour and a grocery store tour. The researchers observed a significant increase in the number of different fruits and vegetables in the intervention households as well as increases in fruit and vegetable consumption.