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The Effect of Distance and Cost on Fruit and VegetableConsumption in Rural Texas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Richard A. Dunn ,
Wesley R. Dean ,
Cassandra M. Johnson ,
Andrew Leidner  and
Joseph R. Sharkey
Richard A. Dunn
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Wesley R. Dean
Affiliation:
Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences and the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, Texas
Cassandra M. Johnson
Affiliation:
UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Andrew Leidner
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Joseph R. Sharkey
Affiliation:
Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, Texas
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Abstract

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with improved health outcomes,yet there is limited understanding of the impact of cost and accessibilityon fruit and vegetable intake in rural settings. This study examines therelationship between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and their costand accessibility among blacks and non-Hispanic whites in a rural area.Individual characteristics from a 2006 mail survey (n = 1,510) were combinedwith store locations and price information from a 2006 ground-truthed censusof retail outlets. The mail survey covered seven counties in central Texaswith 38 supermarkets/grocery stores. Blacks tended to live closer to asupermarket or grocery store, but they were only slightly more likely thanwhites to consume two or more servings of fruit daily and much less likelyto consume three or more servings of vegetables. Multivariate probitregression analysis revealed that neither access nor cost was related tofruit or vegetable consumption among white respondents. Among blacks, costwas also not associated with consumption. In contrast to whites, however,each additional mile was associated with a three percentage point decline inthe probability of consuming two or more servings of fruit daily and a 1.8percentage point decline in the probability of consuming three or morevegetable servings.

Keywords

food accessaffordabilitysupermarketsgrocery storesfruit and vegetable intakeracial disparitiesrural112114Q00R10
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , November 2012 , pp. 491 - 500
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2012

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