Possible barriers to Mississippi's Farmers' Market Nutrition Program redemption

Abstract

Trending ahead to the year 2050, concerns continue to rise regarding feeding a world population of nearly 10 billion people (Smith, Tarawali, Grace, & Sones, 2013). The United States provides many federal programs to feed the hungry (Talk Poverty, 2018). Despite these provisions, barriers exist and prevent access to healthy foods (Innis, 2014). Residents in the state of Mississippi are posed with the challenge of accessing nutrient rich foods (Gunderson et al., 2018). In an effort to combat hunger in Mississippi, Mississippi WIC and MDAC have partnered to bridge farmers with low-income residents with the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (“Mississippi Farmers' Market Nutrition,” 2018). Barriers to access – like transportation, location, and market hours – may have an impact on redemtption rates (Conrey, Frongillo, Dollahite, & Griffin, 2003). This descriptive, correlational study used five independent variables to see if these had an impact on FMNP voucher redemption rates.