What's really in the food store? An evaluation of local consumers who conducted healthy food assessments in their neighborhood stores

The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

3162.0: Monday, November 11, 2002 - Board 10

Abstract #38170

Lori Miller Nascimento, MPH¹, LaVonna Blair Lewis, PhD, MPH², Michael Cousineau, DrPH³, Joyce Jones Guinyard, DC⁴, and Gwendolyn Flynn⁴. (1) Department of Family Medicine, Division of Community Health, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 3375 S. Hoover Street, Suite H201, Los Angeles, CA 90007, (213)821-0702, lorimill@usc.edu, (2) Health Administration Program, University of Southern California, School of Policy, Planning and Development, Ralph and Goldy Lewis Hall 309, Los Angeles, CA, CA 90089-0626, (3) School of Family Medicine, Division of Community Health, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 3375 S. Hoover St., Ste. H201, Los Angeles, CA 90007, (4) REACH 2010 African Americans Building a Legacy of Health Project, Community Health Councils, Inc., 3741 Stocker Street, Ste. 208, Los Angeles, CA 90008

How does one's neighborhood influence the types of healthy foods one eats? Are markets that offer healthy foods available in all communities? Why aren't there more farmer's markets or natural food stores (i.e. Whole Foods Market) available in low-income communities? Can community members be trained to gather information about the availability of healthy foods in their communities and the food preferences of local residents? As part of the REACH 2010, African Americans Building a Legacy of Health Project to address diabetes and cardiovascular disease, we are working with local community members to assess the availability of healthy foods in their communities, and find out what shoppers really want. To do this, a mini-grant process was developed to fund local community organizations to conduct healthy food assessments in local stores, and to interview local consumers on their food preferences in South Los Angeles, East Inglewood and North Long Beach. Grantees received training in data collection, and used creative means to collect data related to food quality, accessibility and preference. Among the findings, it was noted that training local people to examine the food options in their community empowers them to take a more proactive, critical perspective regarding their food options. The evaluation of the data and the data collection process will be shared with community organizations. The next step is to develop an action plan to improve the availability and quality of healthy foods in the target communities.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

1. Understand the process of identifying, training and working with local community members to collect data in local food stores and conduct food preference surveys across three communities in Los Angeles;
2. Identify four key findings from the healthy food assessments; and
3. Recognize the food preference trends of the interviewees regarding their satisfaction with where they usually shop, and the stores or restaurants that they would like to see open in their communities.

Keywords: Food and Nutrition, Community Participation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Community-based Collaborations

The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA