An Evaluation of Washington State SNAP-Ed Farmers' Market Initiatives and SNAP Participant Behaviors

Abstract

Objective: To describe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed)-supported farmers' market (FM) access activities in Washington State communities and identify associations between participation in these activities and SNAP participants' FM shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Design: Descriptive study; data included stakeholder interviews and surveys with FM managers and a stratified clustered random sample of SNAP participants.

Setting: Washington State.

Participants: A total of 51 SNAP-Ed stakeholders, 400 SNAP participants, and 94 FM managers participated.

Main outcome measure(s): Partnership measures and SNAP-Ed FM access activities; SNAP participants' participation in FM access activities, FM shopping frequency, and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Analysis: Thematic content analysis, descriptive statistics, and 0-inflated Poisson and ordinary least-squares regression models.

Results: A total of 343 FM access activities and strong multi-sector partnerships were identified. Fifty percent of SNAP participants shopped at an FM in the past year, and 30% at least monthly. The SNAP participants participating in FM access activities shopped at FMs more frequently (P=.005). The SNAP participants shopping at FMs ate fruit and vegetables more frequently than did non-FM shoppers (P<.001).

Conclusions and implications: Through nutrition education and systems and environmental changes, Washington SNAP-Ed developed effective programming and multi-sector partnerships. These efforts are associated with SNAP participants' FM shopping and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Keywords: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education; environmental nutrition; farmers' markets; fruit; vegetable.