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Low socioeconomic families must make many difficult decisions when purchasing foods for their family. As a result, many low-income families base their diets on less expensive, nutrient-poor convenience foods. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the impact of a virtual grocery shopping tour on the ability of low-income Delaware County adults to understand and use the Nutrition Facts Panel. Twenty-one low-income adults participated in the virtual grocery tour that focused on how to use the Nutrition Facts Panel to select healthier food items. Results indicated participants’ confidence in their ability to “use the Nutrition Facts Panel” (7.0 ± 3.5 vs. 9.2 ± 1.8; t=2.53, p=0.021) and to identify a low sodium breakfast cereal (t=3.375; p=0.003) increased after the intervention. However, there was no increase in the participants’ confidence to choose healthy items at the grocery store (t=1.34; p=0.196) or in their ability to identify if a cereal was “high” in fiber (t=1.714; p=0.104), “high” in iron (t=0.438; p=0.667), or a “good” source (e.g., 10-19% DV) of calcium (t=0.438; t=0.667). Future efforts should focus on a narrower curriculum so as not to overwhelm participants. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Food is a fundamental necessity of life. However, millions of Americans do not have access to adequate food and are considered to be "food insecure." Research has shown that low-income individuals have limited food preparation skills and low levels of self-efficacy to prepare healthy meals, further complicating their food situations. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effectiveness of a community cooking demonstration at increasing self-efficacy to prepare healthy meals with limited resources. Twenty-three low-income adults participated in the intervention and completed a pre- and post-test assessment to measure changes in self-efficacy to cook, as well as changes in general food and nutrition knowledge. Results indicated that although there were no significant improvements in participants’ self-efficacy to prepare healthy meals (39.3 ± 11.3 vs. 44.5 ± 9.1; t=1.76, p=0.25), subjects did experience significant gains in knowledge related to the MyPlate food guide (1.2 ± 0.5 vs. 1.8 ± 0.8; t=2.82, p=0.01) and basic food safety (0.7 ± 0.9 vs. 2.5 ± 1.0: t=6.05, p<0.001). Increased knowledge is a critical building block toward behavior change and increased self-efficacy. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences