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Fruits and Vegetables


The WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher: Does Regional Price Variation Affect Buying Power?

Using 2004-06 Nielsen Homescan data, the authors examines the prices of fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, and canned) in 26 metropolitan market areas to determine how price variations affected the voucher ;s purchasing power. The authors found that the 20 most commonly purchased fruits and vegetables cost 30% to 70% more in the highest-priced market areas than in the lowest. From these results, the authors inferred that WIC participants who lived in more expensive geographic areas might be able to purchase fewer fruits and vegetables than those who lived in areas where these items were cheaper.


Effect of a Targeted Subsidy on Intake of Fruits and Vegetables Among Low-Income Women in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children

In this study, the authors tested the effectiveness of a subsidy for fruits and vegetables on the WIC Program. Women who enrolled for postpartum services (n = 602) at three WIC sites in Los Angeles were assigned to either an intervention (farmers market or supermarket, both with redeemable food vouchers) or a control condition (a minimal non-food incentive). Results indicated that intervention participants increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables and sustained the increase 6 months after the intervention was terminated.


Choices Made by Low-Income Women Provided with an Economic Supplement for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Purchase

This study investigated whether women who received supplemental financial support specifically for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables would exhibit high uptake of the supplement. The researchers also recorded what those individuals would choose to purchase. The authors concluded that women used the supplement provided almost fully and that they purchased a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables for their families. No particular barriers arose to redemption of the vouchers by either the participants or retail vendors.


Walk Texas! 5-A-Day Intervention for Women, Infants, and Children Clients: A Quasi-Experimental Study

This study was conducted to evaluate the Walk Texas! Clinical Counseling Guide for Nutrition, a brief, stage-based nutritional counseling guide designed for use in clinical settings. Primary measures included state of change, barriers to change, attitudes toward fruits and vegetables (F&V), self-efficacy, and self-reports of F&V consumption. Results were mixed. Although there was no significant increase in the cognitive constructs (e.g., self-efficacy, attitudes), participants in the intervention clinics reported a significant increase in the state of change and a composite measure of F&V intake.