Double Up Food Bucks: A Qualitative Evaluation of Usage, Impact, Barriers, and Facilitators

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate implementation of a farmers market-based fruit and vegetable incentive program.

Design: Four focus groups and 6 interviews with program participants from April through November 2017.

Setting: Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program in Western New York.

Participants: Western New York DUFB program participants.

Phenomenon of interest: Customer DUFB usage, how DUFB affects purchasing, and program barriers or facilitators.

Analysis: Two independent researchers coded focus group and interview transcripts. Researchers summarized codes as themes and selected illustrative quotes.

Results: Participants (n = 36) were mostly female (75%); 69.4% reported a household income less than $20,000. They reported taking home and consuming more fruits and vegetables because of DUFB, almost always earning the maximum amount of DUFB and saving DUFB for later use. Barriers to using DUFB included limited hours and locations, running out of tokens, poor access to farmers market, and limited stocking. Participants recommended improved program communication, more venues, and convenient schedules to facilitate program use.

Conclusions and implications: Findings indicated that incentive programs increased fruit and vegetable consumption and purchasing among those who use them, however barriers to using incentives still existed. To improve the participant experience, program administrators should implement technology-based systems, provide robust communication, and offer incentives at varied locations and times.

Keywords: farmers market; food assistance; fruit; incentives; vegetables.