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Table 2 Participant groups and data collection methods to be used during formative research in New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington

From: Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK): An innovative community supported agriculture intervention to prevent childhood obesity in low-income families and strengthen local agricultural economies

Study participants

Data collection method / tool to be administered

CSA farmers

CSA farmers with a CO-CSA

• In-depth interviews covering farm and CSA operations, marketing strategies, customer profiles, most popular produce offerings, views on accepting SNAP/EBT, lessons learned, and experience using (or thoughts related to) the following options for subsidizing CSAs: work shares, sliding scales, donations, fundraising, grants, and revolving loans

• Fruit and vegetable checklist regarding crops grown on their farm

CSA farmers with no CO-CSA

• In-depth interviews covering farm and CSA operations, marketing strategies, customer profiles, most popular produce, views on accepting SNAP/EBT, interest in implementing a CO-CSA, opinions on options for subsidizing CSAs, including work shares, sliding scales, donations, fundraising, grants, and revolving loans

• Fruit and vegetable checklist regarding crops grown on their farm

Low-income households

Low-income adults

• In-depth interview covering eating and cooking habits, perceptions of healthy foods, community supports for healthy eating, children’s preferences for types of fruits and vegetables, child snacking, tools needed to prepare produce, children’s involvement in food preparation, thoughts on local farms and farmers, knowledge of seasonal produce, CO-CSA program thoughts and preferences, and what would make it easier or more challenging to participate in a CO-CSA program

• Choice experiment exercise testing willingness to purchase a CSA within hypothetical scenarios regarding variations in pricing, share frequency, and share variety [70]

• Demographic survey, adapted from the BRFSS questionnaire [96] and the American Community Survey [95]

Low-income children

• Semi-structured interview covering fruit and vegetable familiarity and preferences, involvement in meal preparation, snacking habits, family and peer influences, nutrition knowledge and skills obtained through school or community, experiences with gardening and farms, and knowledge of seasonal produce

Full-paying CSA members

• In-depth interview covering views on features of their CSA, CSA preferences, factors that influence their participation, child involvement in CSAs, food shopping preferences, opinions on food assistance programming for limited income families, willingness to help offset the price of CSA shares, and thoughts on CSA cost-offset strategies including: SNAP use, workshares, donations, fundraising, and grants

• Choice experiment exercise testing willingness to purchase a CSA within hypothetical scenarios regarding variations in pricing, share frequency, and share variety [70]

• Demographic survey, adapted from the BRFSS questionnaire [96] and the American Community Survey [95]

Community health educators

• Online survey with questions about their professional experience and demographic characteristics, fruits and vegetables that are familiar and appealing to low-income families in their communities, their work related to local foods promotion, and nutrition education programs that their organizations offer to low-income families

• In-depth interview covering types of nutrition education they provide, where they deliver the education, participants served, and to solicit suggestions for how CSA produce could be highlighted in the curriculum

• Phone focus group covering how to best promote local foods, interest in teaching about local foods, thoughts on cost-offset CSA program, engaging low-income populations in nutrition education, identifying community organizations to partner with for this type of program, and recommendations and suggestions for sustainability

  1. Abbreviations: BRFSS Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; CSA Community Supported Agriculture; CO-CSA Cost-offset Community Supported Agriculture; EBT Electronic Benefits Transfer; SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program