A Multi-Pronged Evaluation of a Healthy Food Access Initiative in Central Texas: Study Design, Methods, and Baseline Findings of the FRESH-Austin Evaluation Study

Kathryn M. Janda, Nalini Ranjit, Deborah Salvo, Aida Nielsen, Nika Akhavan, Martha Diaz, Pablo Lemoine, Joy Casnovsky and Alexandra van den Berg
Additional contact information
Kathryn M. Janda: UTHealth School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Nalini Ranjit: UTHealth School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Deborah Salvo: Prevention Research Center, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
Aida Nielsen: UTHealth School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Nika Akhavan: UTHealth School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Martha Diaz: UTHealth School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Pablo Lemoine: Centro Nacional de Consultoría, Bogotá 110221, Colombia
Joy Casnovsky: Sustainable Food Center, Austin, TX 78702, USA
Alexandra van den Berg: UTHealth School of Public Health, Austin, TX 78701, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-18

Abstract: Food insecurity and limited healthy food access are complex public health issues and warrant multi-level evaluations. The purpose of this paper was to present the overall study design and baseline results of the multi-pronged evaluation of a healthy food access (i.e., Fresh for Less (FFL)) initiative in Central Texas. The 2018–2021 FRESH-Austin study was a natural experiment that utilized a cluster random sampling strategy to recruit three groups of participants (total n = 400): (1) customers at FFL assets, (2) residents that lived within 1.5 miles of an FFL asset, and (3) residents from a comparison community. Evaluation measures included annual cohort surveys, accelerometers and GPS devices, store-level audits, and built environment assessments. Data are being used to inform and validate an agent-based model (ABM) to predict food shopping and consumption behaviors. Sociodemographic factors and food shopping and consumption behaviors were similar across the three groups; however, customers recruited at FFL assets were lower income and had a higher prevalence of food insecurity. The baseline findings demonstrate the need for multi-level food access interventions, such as FFL, in low-income communities. In the future, ABM can be used as a cost-effective way to determine potential impacts of future large-scale food environment programs and policies.

Keywords: multi-level evaluation; agent-based modeling; food security and healthy food access intervention; community-specific research; baseline data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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