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

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.