Planting Seeds of Victory: Creating Shared Meaning while Gardening amidst a Pandemic

The Victory2020 Garden Community Program was established by faculty members within the University of Florida (UF), Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) in Marion and Columbia County Extension offices. In response to COVID-19, the purpose of the program was to provide online-mediated programs that could be completed at the desired pace of the participants, while promoting a self-reliant, science-based approach to learning about home food production through gardening. Due to food insecurity rates in both Marion (14.4%) and Columbia (15.2%) counties ranking above the statewide average in Florida, an immediate need to provide educational resources on becoming self-sufficient in growing one’s own food became increasingly important due to nationwide supply-chain shortages (Feeding America, 2020). 2,548 participants representing 43 states and six countries were provided access to eight learning modules hosted by Canvas, an online tool through UF. Participants were provided a package of free seeds, including corn, squash, cucumber, and cowpea to plant their Victory2020 Garden. A purposeful online community was established by extension agents in Marion and Columbia counties to facilitate quality discussion and growth, culminating in over 225,000 total impressions. The findings of the program revealed that 88% of gardening households began eating more fruits and vegetables while 73% are embracing new food safety techniques in both the garden and kitchen. Primary investigators and co-pi's recommend an implementation of a program timeline to benefit the participants through diverse, online learning options. Continued programming addressing mental health, nutrition, and gardening is recommended across extension programs nationally.

Efficacy of Augmented Food Pantry Services in Addressing Food Insecurity

Objectives Almost 1 in 9 Americans obtain food from a food bank or food pantry every year to help make ends meet. Despite this scope and scale, the efficacy of the charitable food system at alleviating food insecurity is still unclear. This study aimed to determine whether food distributed at food pantries as part of a comprehensive diabetes self-management support program, changed food security status for adults with diabetes. Methods This is a secondary, prespecified analysis of a larger randomized, controlled study (the FAITH-DM trial) conducted in 27 food pantries in Detroit MI; Houston, TX; and Oakland, CA (2015–2018). We screened 5329 adults for diabetes, and individually randomized 568 participants with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 7.5% or greater to an immediate 6-month intervention (including bimonthly food, diabetes education, health care referral and glucose monitoring) or to receive the intervention after a 6-month delay (cross-over design). For this analysis, primary outcome was food insecurity, measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months, using the 10-item USDA food security modules scaled as a continuous Rasch score and then compared using difference-in-differences analyses. Results Participants were racially/ethnically diverse (51% Latino/Hispanic, 33% African American), with a mean age of 55 (range 23–86) and predominantly female (69%). In both trial phases, food security scores improved for individuals receiving the intervention and worsened for those not receiving the intervention. On a 12-point Rasch scale, differences between groups ranged from 0.627 points in Phase 1 (95% CI: –1.16, –0.099, P = .02) to 0.879 in Phase 2 (95% CI: –1.46, –0.303, P = 0.003). Conclusions Preliminary results of this cross-over design suggest a causal relationship between healthy food interventions at food banks and improving food security for adults with diabetes. Funding Sources Funding for the Feeding America Intervention Trial for Health—Diabetes Mellitus (FAITH-DM) was provided by Feeding America, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Urban Institute via a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award P30DK092924, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under award 3U48DP004998–01S1. Support for RAR by HRSA QSCERT-PC Program (grant no. T32HP30037).

Using nudges to promote healthy food choices at Greater Boston food pantries

Nudging is a strategy used in behavioral economics to influence consumer decision-making through subtle changes in the choice environment. Recently, behavioral economists have been testing the use of nudge techniques to encourage healthier foods for high risk individuals. Food insecure individuals have an elevated risk of obesity and non-communicable diseases and would benefit from eating more nutrients dense foods for prevention and treatment. To promote more nutrient dense foods for food insecure individuals, Feeding America created a list of Foods to Encourage (F2E). This study evaluated the efficacy of nudge interventions in promoting two selected F2E at client-choice food pantries in Massachusetts. The objective of this study was to determine if the nudge interventions increased the take-rate of the targeted F2E: carrots and brown rice. Nudge interventions were implemented at three client-choice food pantries. Carrots were subjected to a “recipe nudge” in which recipe cards were placed next to the product. Brown rice underwent a placement nudge, which entailed moving the product to the proximal end of the display at waist height within easy reach and line of sight. Data was collected three times pre-intervention and three times post-intervention at each site to determine if the nudge had an impact on take rate. This study took place at three suburban food pantries in the Greater Boston area. The total number of shoppers observed before intervention was 402 and after intervention was 417. The main outcome was the take-rate of the products determined by the number of shoppers who selected the foods before and after intervention. Analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Version 24 (Armonk, NY). Odds ratios were calculated to determine the effect of the intervention with a logistic regression controlling for the site. The take-rate of brown rice increased significantly post-placement intervention. The odds ratio for brown rice was 1.940 (95% CI = 1.318 to 2.857). The take rate of other types of rice did not change post-intervention. The take rate for fresh carrots also increased significantly post recipe card intervention. The odds ratio for carrots was 1.519 (95% CI = 1.129 to 2.044). The results of this study indicate a favorable effect of nudges on the take rate of nutrient dense products and could support the use of nudges as a strategy to promote the distribution of healthy food in client-choice food pantries.

Testing the feasibility of a system-based approach to deliver a smoking cessation and food nudging intervention at food pantry sites

Food-insecure adults disproportionately experience high cardiovascular risk. Guided by the Feeding America recommendations, we tested the feasibly of a system-based approach to address the cardiovascular risk behaviors of current smoking and dietary choice at food distribution sites. Food pantries affiliated with the Food Bank of Delaware organization (N = 14) were invited to take part. Pantries who agreed solicited personnel within the pantry (i.e., staff, active volunteers) to become trained as quit-smoking coaches and/or food environment “nudging” interventionists. After training, trained personnel implemented the evidence-based treatments. Across a 6-month observation period, quit coaches reported each month on the number of (a) enrolled food pantry clients, (b) total quit-smoking sessions scheduled and attended, and (c) the smoking status of clients who attended the final, third session. Trained evaluators visited participating pantries once per month across the observation period to assess adherence to nudging guidelines. One in five (21%; 3/14) invited pantries participated in the study, and five personnel were trained to deliver intervention components. Across the observation period, quit coaches reported that 86 new smoking cessation clients were enrolled, 228 quit coaching sessions were scheduled, and 187 attended (82% attendance rate). Smoking cessation rates were estimated at 19%–36%. A 100% adherence to the food nudging approach was observed. These data demonstrate the feasibility of a system-based approach to build the capacity of food distribution sites and personnel to deliver smoking cessation quit-coaching and food nudging interventions on-site.

How Food Banks Use Markets to Feed the Poor

A difficult issue for organizations is how to assign valuable resources across competing opportunities. This work describes how Feeding America allocates about 300 million pounds of food a year to over two hundred food banks across the United States. It does so in an unusual way: in 2005, it switched from a centralized queuing system, where food banks would wait their turn, to a market based mechanism where they bid daily on truckloads of food using a “fake” currency called shares. The change and its impact are described here, showing how the market system allowed food banks to sort based on their preferences.