O37 Fruit and Vegetable Preparation Changes During and After Cost-Offset Community Supported Agriculture and Nutrition Education

Background Most adults and children in the US do not consume recommended levels of fruit and vegetables (FV). Providing subsidized or cost-offset community supported agriculture (CO-CSA) alongside nutrition education is 1 approach to increase FV intake among rural, low-income families. Objective This analysis assessed change in the frequency and method of FV preparation during and after a CO-CSA plus nutrition education intervention. Study Design, Setting, Participants Participants were caregivers in low-income households ( Measurable Outcome/Analysis Outcomes included monthly frequency of preparing 9 different, seasonal FV for children's snacks and 6 different vegetables for dinner with preparation methods for each. Repeated measures ANOVA and pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction tested change in FV preparation frequency over time at 95% confidence. Moderation analysis assessed whether changes in FV preparation frequency varied by lesson attendance. Results At baseline, caregivers prepared fruit for snacks and vegetables for dinner almost every day, and vegetables for snacks every other day. Preparation frequency for total snack fruit, celery, cucumber, peppers, other vegetables, total snack vegetables, lettuce, cabbage, greens, squash, and total dinner vegetables all increased during the intervention; and, increases in vegetables for both snacks (celery, cucumber, and total) and dinner (greens and total) were maintained one-year later. At baseline, the majority of participants (>70%) reported using healthy methods to prepare vegetables, and no changes were observed over time. Observed increases in FV preparation frequency were not moderated by lesson attendance. Conclusion CO-CSA plus education was associated with increases in FV preparation frequency, increases in vegetable preparation were maintained 1 year later, but improvements were not associated with attending nutrition education.