Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Families (or Fresh Families) Study

Purpose/objectives of the study

Research has shown that children experiencing food insecurity are not meeting recommended intake of fruits and vegetables (FV). Cost and transportation/geographical barriers to accessing FV may be barriers that prevent these children from consuming recommended amounts of FVs. Food provision strategies, such as FV delivery or vouchers, may mitigate these barriers, assisting with increasing FV intake. Thus, efficacious strategies for food provision are needed for families with children who are experiencing food insecurity.

The purpose of this study is to see which food provision strategy, paper vouchers or home delivery, best increases FV availability at home and child FV intake.

Recruitment

For recruitment, flyers will be provided to interested elementary schools, daycare centers, Head Start locations, and community organizations within the 5-mile radius of the Western Ave Food City store. According to each organization's preference, paper flyers to hang and/or digital flyers to be distributed via listservs and/or social media will be provided. Flyers and listservs will also be used on the UTK and UTIA campuses, and study advertisements will be launched on Facebook. Additionally, summer meal sites (https://www.fns.usda.gov/meals4kids) will be contacted within the 5-mile radius to ask permission to handout study flyers at these events. Additionally, research staff will also set up recruitment tables at relevant family and community events, children's events and festivals, and health fairs in this zone. Recruitment flyers/advertisements will display a QR code that interested parents can scan using the camera app on their smartphone. The QR code will direct the parent to a brief Qualtrics survey that asks a few screening questions, collects contact information (caregiver name, phone number, and email), and obtains permission to be contacted by the research staff. Interested families will be contacted by the research team and screened for eligibility by phone. Eligible families will be then invited to an orientation. These orientations will be conducted virtually over Zoom. The orientations sessions will occur one-on-one between a family and a research team member. Families will be mailed/emailed the consent forms prior to the orientation. For families who are interested, the research team will review the consent form at the end of the orientation, and adult caregivers will sign consent forms and children will provide assent (verbal or written). Consent/assent forms will be collected via Qualtrics.