Community Nutrition Programs and Why They Don’t Work

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Programs aimed at increasing food access for low-income families are becoming more prevalent in communities recognized as food deserts.  Public health advocates continue to seek programs aimed at thwarting food insecurity.  Unfortunately, many program have fallen short due to a variety of reasons.  Despite several studies provide evidence for the effectiveness of community kitchens, gardens, and subsidized food programs, a recent study investigating the use and success of such programs in Toronto indicated otherwise.

                Loopstra and Tarasuk (2013) assessed the frequency of use of collective kitchens, community gardens, and the Good Food Box program—a food box program aimed at providing fresh fruit and vegetables to low-income families noted for having high levels of food insecurity.  Researchers found that less than 5% of study participants reported benefiting from these community nutrition programs.

                Study participants reported several barriers to utilizing the community nutrition programs, resulting in the identification of two common themes—(1) programs were not accessible and (2) programs did not fit with needs, interest, and lives of the study participants.  Responses falling under the accessibility theme included lack of knowledge about how or where to participate, the program was not within the neighborhood, participants did not know what the program was, the program was filled to capacity, participants were not eligible for the program, and the cost of the program was prohibitive.  Barriers falling under the lack of fit theme included time, interest, need, and health.

                Overall, participants rejected food assistance programs, denying a need for such programs.  Participants refused programs due to lack of promotion and education, as well as the presence of personal and program constraints that hindered their accessibility.  Predictably, a lack of food need was never expressed as a reason for denying food assistance programs, rather a lack of desire to investigate further program options was common.  Unfortunately, despite best efforts to provide effective community nutrition programs, alternate methods may be necessary to truly meet the needs of low-income communities.

LH

Loopstra, R., & Tarasuk, V. (2013). Perspectives on Community Gardens, Community Kitchens and the Good Food Box Program in a Community-Based Sample of Low-Income Families. Canadian Journal Of Public Health, 104(1), e55-e59.

Comments

  1. ksu internsSeptember 5, 2017 at 7:45 PM

    Overall, I was shocked by the statistics provided in this article. I thought it was increasingly interesting that only 5% of study participants reported benefiting from community nutrition programs. When I think of community nutrition I think of the success I have seen firsthand at my WIC rotation. I frequently saw mother’s accepting nutritious food and education on healthy eating which they could pass on to their children. I am not shocked by the barriers that were commonly reported (inaccessible and programs not fitting needs) as to why participants found the programs to be not helpful. I think that this is an area that more registered dietitians are currently needed. With the research background RD’s can provide, programs can be redesigned to better meet the needs of the community. Also, RD’s can help highlight the importance of healthy nutrition/lifestyles among the community to help inspire the population to take advantage of the programs already offered.

    TR

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