Is price a barrier to eating more fruits and vegetables for low-income families?
Open accessAbstract
Objective To determine if price is a barrier to fruit and vegetable consumption for low-income families by comparing the average cost of a market basket of fruits and vegetables from the Thrifty Food Plan and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (2005 Dietary Guidelines), investigating variations in price by neighborhood income and by type of supermarket, and estimating the influence of a 2005 Dietary Guidelines fruit and vegetable basket on the food budget of a low-income family.Design A market basket survey was conducted at 25 supermarkets across three time periods to allow for seasonal variation in produce prices.Setting Stores were selected from census tracts with a variety of income levels in Sacramento, CA, and Los Angeles, CA.Main outcome measures The average cost of a Thrifty Food Plan and 2005 Dietary Guidelines market basket for fruits and vegetables.Statistical analyses performed Student t tests were used to compare the mean cost of market baskets.Results The 2005 Dietary Guidelines market basket cost 4% less than the Thrifty Food Plan (P<0.001), and was significantly less expensive in low-income areas at 65 dollars (P<0.05), and in bulk supermarkets at 59 dollars (P<0.05). The 2005 Dietary Guidelines market basket would require a low-income family to devote 43% to 70% of their food budget to fruits and vegetables.Conclusions Public policies should examine ways to make fruits and vegetables more affordable to low-income families.
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There is a negative relationship between income and convenience food purchase, indicating a budgetary barrier.
“Cassady, Jetter, and Culp (2007) investigated the negative relationships between income and convenience food purchase, and concluded on the existence of a budgetary barrier.”
From Emerging trends in European food, diets and food industry (2018) · cites this paper as Cassady et al., 2007
There are inverse relationships between fresh-cut fruit consumption and income levels.
“Cassady et al. (2007) concluded on inverse relationships between fresh-cut fruit consumption and income levels.”
From Emerging trends in European food, diets and food industry (2018) · cites this paper as Cassady et al., 2007
Several other investigations have not found consistent price differences between more versus less healthy foods.
“Conversely, several other investigations have not found consistent price differences between more versus less healthy foods.153–156”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [154]
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References 32 · Cited by 268
- Authors
- Cassady, D., Jetter, K. M., & Culp, J.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cassady, Diana
- ORCID
- Jetter, Karen M.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-11
- Volume
- 107
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1909-1915
- ISSN
- 0002-8223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1975294747
- Cited by
- 268
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 26.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K12HD051958)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economics of Agriculture and Food Markets
- Keywords
- fruit and vegetable intake, food prices, low-income households, Thrifty Food Plan, food budget, neighborhood income, seasonal price variation, food affordability, public policy
- MeSH terms
- Budgets, California, Commerce, Costs and Cost Analysis, Diet, Food, Fruit, Health Promotion, Humans, Poverty, Public Policy, Vegetables, Los Angeles, Nutrition Policy, Statistics, Nonparametric
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