Serving Homebound Seniors: In-Home Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Enrollment and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Home Delivery for Homebound Seniors in Central New Jersey

Abstract

Low-income, homebound seniors may encounter affordability and accessibility-related barriers to consuming enough fresh fruits and vegetables (FV). This paper describes a two-stage pilot intervention to improve fresh FV affordability and access for home-delivered meal (HDM) program clients in Central New Jersey. The first stage of the intervention offered in-home Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) enrollment assistance to low-income HDM program clients, with 13 clients successfully enrolling in SFMNP. The second stage of the intervention offered fresh FV home deliveries to all 64 HDM program clients at no cost to clients. We sourced fresh FV from a farmers’ market run in partnership with a Cooperative Extension program affiliated with a large public research university. We carried out a post-intervention evaluation by conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 clients. Interviews addressed themes of farmers’ market access, SFMNP awareness, perceived changes to FV intake, and home delivery satisfaction. Evaluation results suggest that this short-term pilot intervention was well-received and effective in reducing barriers to FV access and affordability for a vulnerable senior population.