An Exploratory Study of the Perceived Need for and Acceptability of a Healthy Frozen Meal Product Among Rural Corner Store Customers in North Carolina

ABSTRACT

This pilot study assesses barriers to obtaining healthy affordable food and the early-stage acceptability of a novel subsidized healthy frozen meal product designed to address food insecurity and nutritional status among corner store customers in rural North Carolina. A convenience sample of 50 customers were surveyed to examine the perceived availability of healthy food options, barriers to maintaining healthy diets, food shopping and consumption habits, and reception of the product. Findings confirmed barriers to obtaining healthy foods that the product seeks to address, the validity of corner stores as the intervention site, and approval of the product’s taste and concept.

KEYWORDS:

• Corner stores
• food insecurity
• food retail
• health disparities
• nutrition
• nutrition security
• rural health
• small business
• social entrepreneurship

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the collaboration of Gabe Cummings, Carla Norwood, and Working Landscapes for identifying corner stores and their ongoing support for food access research in rural communities. We are also indebted to the corner store owners/manager and the customers completing our survey. Finally, we would like to thank Mia Fishkin and Chiragji Odedra for their assistance in data collection, and we would like to thank Dr. Ziya Gizlice for his support in statistical analysis.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Ammerman is the founder but no longer the majority owner of Equiti Foods LLC, producer of Good Bowls, and has no conflict of interest. The funding supporting this sub-study was provided by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities for a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer grant that supports research related to small business efforts to address health disparities and involves an extensive conflict of interest management process at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Dr. Kurt Ribisl at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill is considered the PI for all IRB-related issues so that he can monitor the process. He has also reviewed the content of this manuscript. The funder (NIMHD) has not had a direct role in this manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Date: 2/20/2020. RE: Notice of IRB Exemption. Exemption Category: 2. Survey, interview, public observation; 6. Taste or food preference. Study #19–2751. Study Title: Good Bowls: Empowering Communities to Achieve Good Food Access and Health Equity. This submission, Reference ID 261,064, has been reviewed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Human Research Ethics and was determined to be exempt from further review according to the regulatory category cited above under 45 CFR 46.104.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by a Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R41 1R41MD014075-01 [PI: Dr. Alice Ammerman]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.