Farmers Market Use and Dietary Intake Among Snap Participants in Oklahoma

Purpose Determine how Farmers Market (FM) shopping is associated with fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and food literacy scores, and to understand knowledge, barriers, and rationale for FM usage among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants in Oklahoma. Design Cross-sectional study, online and in-person surveys. Setting SNAP-accepting FMs in Oklahoma. Sample SNAP participants in Oklahoma aged 18-64 years of age. Measures Surveys captured self-reported FV intake (cups/day), food literacy scores reflecting knowledge, skills, and confidence related to food, and perceived barriers and facilitators to FM shopping. Sociodemographic information was collected to characterize the sample. Analysis Descriptive summaries presented with counts and frequencies. FV intake and food literacy scores summarized by means and standard deviations. FM awareness scores summarized with medians and IQR. Results FM shoppers had a significantly higher intake of FV (19.1 ± 4.2 vs 16.6 ± 4.2; P = 0.0006) and higher food literacy scores (27.7 ± 4.9 vs 25.0 ± 5.5; P = 0.0025) than non-shoppers. FM awareness did not differ between shoppers and non-shoppers. Most prevalent barrier to FM shopping was “I don’t know where any markets are” (31.6%) most prevalent facilitator was “fresher produce” (43.3%). Conclusion FM shopping was associated with increased FV intake. Differences in food literacy suggest improving literacy may increase FM shopping among SNAP participants. Study provides new understanding to tailor and positively impact future interventions.