(U-WIRE) IOWA CITY, Iowa – Lower-income families are less likely to allocate a monthly fund for fruits and vegetables, and for most families, it takes a significant increase in income before saving for produce, according to new research from the Department of Agriculture.
Hayden Stewart, an agricultural economist and the study’s coauthor, said the purpose of the study was to examine lower-income households hovering around the income eligibility for the national Food Stamp Program.
The economic research report, published this month, concludes that for families to save for fruit and vegetable spending, their annual income must be greater than 130 percent over the poverty line – or the income qualification cutoff to receive food stamps.
“That population, like the rest of the United States, doesn’t achieve the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” Stewart said, of food stamp participants. “They’re not unique in the sense that Americans in general don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables.”
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published every five years by the Department of Health and Human Services, recommends adults consume two cups of fruit and two-and-a-half cups of vegetables each day. On average, Americans take in .83 cups and 1.72 cups of fruits and vegetables respectively.
Higher-income adults are twice as likely to satisfy the guidelines than adults living in poverty.
Participation in the food-stamp program is increasing, according to data from the Food and Nutrition Service, with nearly 26.5 million participants in 2007, up from slightly more than 17 million in 2000 — a hike that’s caused nationwide spending on the program to rise from $17 billion to more than $33 billion during that time.
“People might be wondering if food stamps could do more to improve the health and well being of lower-income households,” Stewart said. And the concern over nationwide produce consumption resonates locally, as well.
Carole Campbell Yack, the coordinator of services for the Johnson County Crisis Center, said that fruits and vegetables play a big role at the center’s food bank.
“In fact, we have expanded our fruits and vegetables to include, during produce season, fruits and vegetables that are planted in our community gardens,” she said. “We also encourage people who have gardens to plant another row for the Crisis Center Food Bank – we are happy to take their produce and share it with the community.”
Katherine Mellen, a UI Student Health Service dietitian, said the lack of produce consumption could be partially attributed to both income and availability.
“Budget can have an impact on food selection,” she said, noting that there are alternatives to “trying to buy all fresh produce in Iowa in February,” including purchasing frozen or canned products.
In households earning less than 130 percent of the poverty line, a small financial boost did not increase the likelihood that people would spend more on fruits and vegetables — instead, beef and frozen prepared-food purchases grew — possibly because of taste and convenience, the study suggests.