April Tallant, WCU Professor and Principle Investigator for the Rural Eating Assessment Project (REAP), was recently featured in the Smoky Mountain News for her innovative research project that hopes to better understand the obstacles to healthy eating in our area.
April’s study, Barriers to Healthy Eating, is the first of its kind in a rural area like WNC. Through focus groups, interviews and surveys, Tallant sought to identify the factors that deter folks from consuming fruits and vegetables.
It’s no surprise that cost and convenience were 2 major barriers to fresh fruit and vegetable consumption. But her study didn’t stop there, Tallant says, “I think probably what makes this study a little more unique is we asked about facilitators.” By asking this question, she discovered that many would eat more fruits and vegetables if urged to do so by a doctor. Not only that, participants indicated that classes and food demonstrations would help them do a better job of cooking healthy meals. Other recommendations from the study include distributing recipe cards at grocery stores and farmers markets and improving advertising at farmers markets, giving prospective customers a better idea of what’s available. Participants also expressed interest in increasing salad bars and other vegetable offerings at grocery stores and restaurants.
Hopefully this study will raise awareness of the barriers and obstacles we face when planning a healthy diet. We are happy to be a part of this exciting new research and to share it with you! Click here to read the full article.