Eleventh International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

The Farm to Family project allows low-income families participating in the SNAP program (formerly known as Food Stamps) to purchase a subscription Food Box at half price, and to modify the commitment from prepayment for the whole season (22 weeks) to purchase on a 4 week cycle with the option to renew each month. Local produce delivered to shoppers weekly included print recipes. Initial surveys indicated many shoppers were not familiar with the produce (“what is this?”), and were unfamiliar with how to cook the item (“how do I cook/prepare this?”) to creating an appetizing dish (“Will my family even eat this?”). To assist shoppers in developing cooking skills and optimize flavor profile of the produce, three nutrition education strategies were implemented - video recipes, cooking class instruction, and produce fact sheets. This poster presentation shares the process of developing materials, offers feedback/findings from the target audience, and introduces a Farm to Family toolkit for replication in your community.