Low-income adults’ perceptions of farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture programmes

OBJECTIVE: To better understand low-income adults' attitudes towards participating in farmers' markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA) and nutrition education programming. DESIGN: Focus groups were held with a diverse sample of adults. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. SETTING: Three affordable housing communities in Washington, DC, USA. SUBJECTS: Participants included twenty-eight residents of the three affordable housing communities. RESULTS: Four major themes emerged across groups, along with several sub-themes within each theme. These included: (i) perceptions of farmers' markets (benefits, barriers, current participation and knowledge); (ii) perceptions of CSA (benefits, barriers and questions/concerns); (iii) need/interest in additional programming (nutrition education, non-nutrition education, qualities of programming and perceived barriers); and (iv) current health knowledge and behaviours (dietary behaviours, health recommendations and health concerns). CONCLUSION: Adults living in urban, affordable housing communities desire access to healthy foods, but are limited by cost. Programmes could have a higher likelihood of success if they accept benefits like SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), are heavily marketed and incorporate culturally relevant nutrition education components.