Availability and Price of Fruits and Vegetables at Food Retailers in Western Massachusetts Counties
Authors: Jiang Qianzhi , Burdick Julia , Chaiken Jennifer , Walsh Sean , Cohen Nancy 
Published: June 2021

Evidence has linked supermarkets, large grocery stores and warehouse clubs to better nutrition including fruit and vegetable intake in people living nearby while showing the opposite for convenience stores and small grocery stores. In western Massachusetts including Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire Counties, there are twice as many convenience stores and dollar stores as supermarkets and grocery stores. It is important to understand whether stores that carry a limited line of food products such as convenience stores and dollar stores can serve as an alternative source of fruits and vegetables in areas where supermarkets, grocery stores, and supercenters, which carry a full line of food products, are hard to access. The current study aims to understand whether there are any disparities in fruit and vegetable access and price across store types and to identify the role of limited‐line food retailers in providing fruits and vegetables. A list of all food retailers in the four counties was downloaded from the Reference USA database 2015. Four trained researchers visited a sample of randomly selected stores stratified for city and store type (n=80) in October 2015. Inter‐rater reliability was analyzed for quality control. Stores were grouped into full‐line retailers and limited‐line retailers based on store type. Chi‐square tests/Fisher's Exact Tests and t‐tests/Mann‐Whitney U Tests were used to compare the availability and prices between groups, respectively. Store audits were completed in 57 of the stores (15 stores were either closed or not able to be located; six stores refused to give permission; two stores were misclassified as food retailers). Stores were assessed on the availability and lowest price of a list of fruits and vegetables most commonly consumed by the US population including fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables; 100% unsweetened fruit juice; and canned and dried beans and legumes. Only 29% of the food retailers visited were full‐line food retailers while the rest had a limited product line. Full‐line food retailers were more likely to carry any fresh fruit (p=0.01), any fresh vegetables (p<0.0001) and any frozen vegetables (p<0.0001), but not orange or apple juice, applesauce, canned tomatoes, canned corn or canned beans compared to limited‐line food retailers. Overall, full‐line food retailers also had significantly higher numbers of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, canned fruits, canned vegetables, and frozen vegetables than limited‐line food retailers (p<0.0001 for all items). When products available at five and more stores in both store type groups were examined, full‐line food retailers had lower prices for two out of three fresh fruits, one in five fresh vegetables, orange and apple juice, 75% of canned or frozen products and beans than limited‐line retailers. The limited‐line food retailers in western Massachusetts could potentially serve as sources of 100% unsweetened fruit juices, canned fruits and vegetables, and canned beans for people living nearby to meet the dietary recommendations for fruits and vegetables, although maybe at a higher cost. In addition, efforts and resources could also be allocated to bringing more fresh produce to the limited‐line food retailers.

Support or Funding Information

Supported in part by USDA NIFA Regional Project NE1439