Experiences with COVID-19 economic relief measures among low-wage worker families: a qualitative study.

Background: Economic stability is a core social determinant of health and a necessary condition for maintaining food security, housing stability, and both physical and mental health. Using a qualitative approach, we identified barriers, facilitators, and participant perceptions about utilizing these relief measures. This study aimed to understand experiences with COVID-19 economic relief measures among low-wage worker households with children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Improving Client Experience and Charitable Food Reach and Access at Food Pantries: A Qualitative Study.

Food pantries are promising community partners in health promotion. This study explored client perspectives in food pantries to inform new approaches to improve client experience, reach, and access. We interviewed 52 adult clients who visited participating food pantries two or more times over 12 months in Cook County, Illinois in English, Spanish, or Cantonese.

Effect of a Multicomponent Food Pantry Intervention in Client Subgroups.

Nutrition promotion programs may have varying effects and influence health disparities. SuperShelf promotes healthy choices in food pantries through inventory changes and nudge implementation (e.g.

Construct validity of the Charitable Food Nutrition Index.

Background: Food pantries are an important source of food for those facing food insecurity. The Charitable Food Nutrition Index (CFNI) was developed for research and practice to measure the nutritional quality of assortments of foods in this setting.

Objective: The study assessed the construct validity of the CFNI using secondary data from a group-randomized food pantry intervention in Minnesota.

A Cluster-Randomized Evaluation of the SuperShelf Intervention in Choice-Based Food Pantries.

Background: Interventions in food pantry settings have the potential to improve health among clients at risk of diet-related disease.

Purpose: This study evaluates whether a cluster-randomized, behavioral intervention in food pantries resulted in improved client outcomes.

Methods: Sixteen Minnesota food pantries were randomized to an intervention (n = 8) or control condition (n = 8).

Early results of a natural experiment evaluating the effects of a local minimum wage policy on the diet-related health of low-wage workers, 2018-2020.

Objective: The current study presents results of a midpoint analysis of an ongoing natural experiment evaluating the diet-related effects of the Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance, which incrementally increases the minimum wage to $15/h.

Design: A difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis of measures collected among low-wage workers in two U.S.

Food Pantry Clients' Needs, Preferences, and Recommendations for Food Pantries: A Qualitative Study.

A qualitative formative approach was used to explore food pantry clients' needs, preferences, and recommendations regarding food received from food pantries. Fifty adult clients of six Arkansas food pantries were interviewed in English, Spanish, or Marshallese. Data analysis used the constant comparative qualitative methodology.

The lived experience of food pantry users in Minnesota: Qualitative findings from a statewide survey.

Objectives: In 2017 a community-University of Minnesota collaborative conducted a statewide survey of food pantry clients.

Methods: Of the 188 food pantries surveyed, 4321 individual client surveys were returned, from which 2,251 open-ended responses were analyzed.

Results: Respondents shared gratitude for the food pantry in meeting their needs for food and support.

Selective Daily Mobility Bias in the Community Food Environment: Case Study of Greater Hartford, Connecticut.

The community food environment has potential influences on community members' dietary health outcomes, such as obesity and Type II diabetes. However, most existing studies evaluating such health effects neglect human mobility. In food patrons' daily travels, certain locations may be preferred and patronized more frequently than others.

Examining Changes in Food Security, Perceived Stress, and Dietary Intake in a Cohort of Low-Wage Workers Experiencing an Increase in Hourly Wage.

Objective: To determine whether an increase in hourly wages was associated with changes in food security and perceived stress among low-wage workers. We also determined whether changes in food security and stress were associated with changes in diet.

Setting: Wages is a prospective cohort study following 974 low-wage workers in Minneapolis, MN, where an ordinance is incrementally increasing minimum wage to US$15/hr from 2018 to 2022, and a comparison community with no minimum wage ordinance (Raleigh, NC).

Validating a Nutrition Ranking System for Food Pantries Using the Healthy Eating Index-2015.

In 2020, charitable food organizations began adopting Healthy Eating Research (HER) nutrition guidelines, which rank individual foods in tiers (e.g., green, yellow, or red) based on each food's nutrient profile.

A qualitative analysis of SNAP and minimum wage policies as experienced by workers with lower incomes.

Work-related policies, including minimum wage and food assistance work requirements, can affect food security for people with lower incomes. This study conducted 112 qualitative interviews to understand participant policy experiences in two contexts (Raleigh, North Carolina and Minneapolis, Minnesota). Participants experienced frequent, destabilizing changes to their United States Department of Agriculture Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which they identified as part of a broader safety net.

Food Pantry Usage Patterns are Associated with Client Sociodemographics and Health.

Characterizing food pantry (FP) clients' FP usage patterns may provide opportunities to tailor health-related interventions. Respondents (n=245) at seven FPs reported their frequency and reliance on FPs and their sociodemographics, health status, and health-related trade-offs. Clients were categorized via latent class analysis.

Applying the Healthy Eating Index-2015 in a Sample of Choice-Based Minnesota Food Pantries to Test Associations Between Food Pantry Inventory, Client Food Selection, and Client Diet.

Background: Food pantry clients are at a high risk for diet-related chronic disease and suboptimal diet. Relatively little research has examined diet quality measures in choice-based food pantries where clients can choose their own food.

Objective: This study tested whether the diet quality scores for food at the pantry were associated with client food selection scores, and whether client food selection scores at the pantry were associated with client diet intake scores.

A Difference-in-Difference Study Evaluating the Effect of Minimum Wage Policy on Body Mass Index and Related Health Behaviors.

Minimum wage laws are a promising policy lever to promote health equity, but few rigorous evaluations have tested whether and how minimum wage policy affects health outcomes. This paper describes an ongoing difference-in-difference study evaluating the health effects of the 2017 Minneapolis Minimum Wage Ordinance, which incrementally increases the minimum wage to $15/hr. We present: (1) the conceptual model guiding the study including mediating mechanisms, (2) the study design, and (3) baseline findings from the study, and (4) the analytic plan for the remainder of the study.

Association between hourly wages and dietary intake after the first phase of implementation of the Minneapolis minimum wage ordinance.

Objective: In 2018, Minneapolis began phased implementation of an ordinance to increase the local minimum wage to $15/h. We sought to determine whether the first phase of implementation was associated with changes in frequency of consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V), whole-grain-rich foods, and foods high in added sugars among low-wage workers.

Design: Natural experiment.

Food shopping, home food availability, and food insecurity among customers in small food stores: an exploratory study.

Customers who frequently shop in small food stores (e.g., convenience stores) may face numerous challenges to procuring healthful food for their household, and these may vary by food security status.

Longitudinal Fruit and Vegetable Sales in Small Food Retailers: Response to a Novel Local Food Policy and Variation by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status.

Small food retailers, including corner/convenience stores, pharmacies, gas-marts, and dollar stores, have historically stocked limited fruits and vegetables, though this may be changing. We examined increases in sales, customer purchasing, and stocking of fresh and/or frozen fruits and vegetables in small food stores over time and in relation to: (a) a local food policy (the Minneapolis Staple Foods Ordinance) and (b) neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). We used longitudinal data (2014-2017) from 147 randomly-sampled stores in Minneapolis/St.

Store and neighborhood differences in retailer compliance with a local staple foods ordinance.

Background: Policies to improve healthy food retail have been recognized as a potential means of reducing diet-related health disparities. The revised 2014 Minneapolis Staple Foods Ordinance instituted minimum stocking standards for healthy, staple foods. The objective of this study was to examine retailer compliance with the policy, and whether compliance varied by neighborhood and store characteristics.

Do High School Students Participate in Second Chance Breakfast Programs?

Background: Breakfast consumption often decreases as youth get older. The School Breakfast Program (SBP) provides an opportunity to intervene and increase breakfast consumption, especially among high school students.

Methods: Project breakFAST implemented an expanded breakfast service at 12 high schools.

Perceptions of a healthier neighborhood food environment linked to greater fruit and vegetable purchases at small and non-traditional food stores.

The aim of this study was to examine associations between perceived neighborhood food environments and food purchasing at small and non-traditional food stores. Intercept interviews of 661 customers were conducted in 105 small and non-traditional food stores. We captured (1) customer perceptions of the neighborhood food environment, (2) associations between customer perceptions and store-level characteristics, and (3) customers' perceptions and shopping behaviors.

Written Nutrition Guidelines, Client Choice Distribution, and Adequate Refrigerator Storage Are Positively Associated with Increased Offerings of Feeding America's Detailed Foods to Encourage (F2E) in a Large Sample of Arkansas Food Pantries.

Background: Millions of food-insecure households in the United States obtain food from food pantries each year. These foods are often of insufficient nutritional quality.

Objective: Our aim was to describe the frequency with which Arkansas food pantries offer foods included in Feeding America's Detailed Foods to Encourage (F2E) framework, and examine food pantry characteristics associated with increased frequency of offering F2E and other foods.