A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Research-Tested Mobile Produce Market Model Designed to Improve Diet in Under-Resourced Communities: Rationale and Design for the Veggie Van Study

Leah N Vermont, Christina Kasprzak, Anne Lally, Alicia Claudio, Laurene Tumiel-Berhalter, Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, Alice Ammerman, Samina Raja, Lucia A Leone, Leah N Vermont, Christina Kasprzak, Anne Lally, Alicia Claudio, Laurene Tumiel-Berhalter, Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, Alice Ammerman, Samina Raja, Lucia A Leone

Abstract

Mobile produce markets are increasingly popular retail vendors used for providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables (F&V) in under-resourced communities; however, evaluation is limited due to design and implementation challenges. This protocol presents the original design of a randomized control trial aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the evidence-based Veggie Van (VV) mobile market model. Nine US community partner organizations were asked to partner with four community sites serving lower-income areas. Sites are randomized to either intervention or control. Intervention sites will host a mobile market for one year while the control sites will host planning events, with the goal to open a market afterward. Eligible participants are aged ≥ 18, the primary household shopper, live nearby/regularly frequent the site, and have expressed interest in learning about a mobile market. The primary outcome, F&V consumption, will be assessed via dietary recall at baseline and 12 months and compared between the intervention and control sites. This research advances work on the VV model and methods for mobile market evaluation with the addition of more robust measures and the study design. Determining the effectiveness of the VV model is imperative to justify taking it to scale to enhance the impact of mobile markets.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04246593.

Keywords: dietary intake; food access; food environment; fruit and vegetable; mobile produce market; randomized control trial.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study sequence and data collection events.

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