The Exploring Food Project: Pre-testing Messages for a Healthy Food... Susannah Crawford Origins of Project

The Exploring Food Project: Pre-testing Messages for a Healthy Food Campaign
Susannah Crawford
Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, University of North Carolina Asheville
Origins of Project
Challenges Faced & Reponses
Goal- To understand and address barriers to accessing and purchasing healthy food among food decision-makers in communities of lower wealth
in Western North Carolina.
Public Service Project Goal- To develop and use a framework tool that offers pre-tested messages, slogan and graphics for the Center of Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) to use when designing future healthy food marketing campaigns and new infrastructure.
•Time constraints
•Managed time efficiently and plan to continue on the
project until competition.
•Writing paper
•With multiple learning disabilities I set aside a longer
period of time for writing plus multiple edits from
various people.
Methods & Work
Undertaken
1. Review The Exploring Food Project’s team
findings from phases I & II on the
perceptions held in communities of lower
wealth on purchasing and consuming healthy
food
• Discuss and brainstorm ideas for slogans
and messages with the team
Pre-tested Slogans & Campaign Recommendations
Ties to Academia
• The Appeal portion of the survey asked participants to rank each slogan 1-5. (1 being they
disliked it, 5 being they loved it)
• The Likelihood of influence a decision portion of the survey also asked participants to rank each
slogan 1-5. (1 being it has not influence, 5 being an absolute influence to choose the healthier
choice)
The numbers below represent each slogans’ average score.
Responsibility
Connections
2. Organize pre-testing survey into categories
based off of perceptions found from
previous data
• Connections
• Responsibility
• Strategies
3. Survey in multiple communities of lower
wealth
• Receive feed back on slogans and
messages
• Each slogan pre-tested with questions on
comprehension, appeal and likelihood it
will influence a purchasing on consuming
decision.
4. Analyze data
• Understand perceptions of purchasing and
consuming healthy food
5. Determine Recommendations for the Center
of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on
a Healthy Food Campaign
Eat Healthy for you
4.5
Reconnect with your food
3.42
Your family will thank you
4.4
Reconnecting with your food is
reconnecting with your spirit
3.6
Your body will thank you
4.55
Your children will thank you
4.65
Reconnecting with your food is
reconnecting with your family
3.4
Healthy options are everywhere
3.15
Know where your food comes from
4.85
Reconnecting with your food is 3.275
reconnecting with your children
Reconnecting with your food is
reconnecting with your self
4.1
Connecting to Mother Earth
3.1
Reunited and it feels so good
2.45
Strategies
When life’s hard, make the
easy decision
2.85
Eat what is real
4.3
The easiest decision you will
make today
2.8
The recommendations below were pre-tested though the Comprehension portion of feedback
received. The Comprehension portion of the survey asked participants to provide feedback on what
each slogan means to them and state what it makes them think about.
From highest recommended to lowest, the three categories of slogans and why• Responsibility- Whether an individual is knowledgeable on the importance of nutrition, all respondents
understood the food they consume directly impacts their current and future health.
• Connections- Respondents without pervious knowledge in nutrition did not understand why connecting
to their food in important or why it would matter.
• Strategies- The pre-tested slogans in this category suggested that consuming and purchasing healthy
food is an easy decision. However, with EBT cards and the stress of survival in low wealth
communities many respondents stated this is not true.
•Related to multiple service-learning courses and
continued my hands-on experience within the community.
•Utilizing knowledge from related courses- Nutrition,
Public Speaking, Statistics, Social and Cultural Inquiry,
Service Learning Health Promotion, Health Promotion/
Theory and Practice, Media Ethics and Society, and
Society Cultural and Poverty
Sustainability
• The Exploring Food Project is sustainable through a
tangible product of healthy food campaign
recommendations for the Center of Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) targeted at Western North Carolina’s
lower wealth communities.
•Unfortunately the Community Transformation grant has
been cut however The Exploring Food Project will continue
this work though the end of July.
References
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Bodor JN, Rice JC, Farley TA, Swalm CM, Rose D. Disparities in food access: does aggregate availability of key foods from other stores offset the relative lack of supermarkets in African-American neighborhoods?
Prev Med 2010;51(1):63–7.
Pre-tested wording to use:
Top three slogans:
-Natural
-Locally grown
-Affordable
-Community
-Know where your food comes from
-Your body will thank you
-Eat what is real
Budzynska K, West P, Savoy-Moore R, Lindsey D, Winter M, Newby P. A food desert in Detroit: associations with food shopping and eating behaviours, dietary intakes and obesity. Public Health Nutrition [serial
online]. December 2013;16(12):2114-2123. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 28, 2014.
Echlin E. Food and Christians. Pastoral Review [serial online]. January 2014;10(1):57. Available from: MasterFILE Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 31, 2014.
Kennedy E. Learn to love food, again. Alive [serial online]. February 2014;(376):74. Available from: MasterFILE Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 28, 2014.
Larson N, Story M, Nelson M. Neighborhood environments: disparities in access to healthy foods in the U.S. Am J Prev Med 2009;36(1):74–81. Accessed April 4, 2014.
Leung, C. Wendy. A qualitative study of diverse experts' views about barriers and strategies to improve the diets and health of supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) beneficiaries. Journal of the Academy
of Nutrition and Dietetics. January 2013. Accessed March 29, 2014.
Moore LV, Roux AVD. Associations of neighborhood characteristics with the location and type of food stores. Am J Public Health. 2006; 96(2):325–331. Accessed April 4, 2014.
Rose D, Richards R. Food store access and household fruit and vegetable use among participants in the US Food Stamp Program. Public Health Nutr 2004;7(8):1081–1088. Accessed April 4, 2014.
US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary guidelines for Americans, 2010. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2010.