Food Pantry Client and Staff Preferences for Nutritious no Prep Ready-to-eat Meals

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The specific aims of this pilot study are: Aim 1) To identify whether no prep ready to eat meals (intervention) or ingredient bundles (control) have higher client acceptability, liking, satisfaction, and perceived diet quality ratings. Aim 2) To identify whether no prep ready to eat meals (intervention) or ingredient bundles (control) have higher feasibility ratings with food pantry staff. Exploratory Aim) To identify whether no prep ready to meals (intervention) or ingredient bundles (control) lead to greater improvements in food security, perceived diet quality, and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Detailed Description
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To test the first hypothesis, we will use a randomized repeated measures between-subjects design with half of the participants randomized to receive 14-days of no prep ready-to-eat meals (intervention, n=35) and half of the participants randomized to receive 14-days of ingredient bundles (control, n=35). To test the second hypothesis, we will use a mixed-methods approach with food pantry staff (N=15), including questionnaires with fixed and open-ended items on feasibility and satisfaction of each distribution strategy followed by 30-minute semi-structured 1-1 interviews conducted by UT Southwestern study staff.

Official Title
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Identifying Food Pantry Client and Staff Preferences for Nutritious no Prep Ready-to-eat Meals Versus Ingredient Bundles as an Effort to Increase Food Security, Improve Nutrition, and Promote Well-being

Conditions
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Diet, Healthy, Food Security

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: No prep ready-to-eat meals
* Behavioral: Ingredient bundles (e.g. meal kits)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 18 years of age or older; ability to read, write, and speak English or Spanish; ability to provide informed consent; current or new pantry user at our community partner; willing to participate; no dietary restrictions, allergies, or sensitivities that would put the participant at-risk of harm from consuming study foods. Exclusion Criteria: Under 18 years of age; inability to read, write, and speak English or Spanish; unable to provide informed consent; not a pantry user at our community partner or uninterested in becoming a pantry user; not wanting to participate; dietary restrictions, allergies, or sensitivities that would put the participant at-risk of harm from consuming study foods.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Randomized repeated measures between-subjects design
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: No prep ready-to-eat meals<br> | Behavioral: No prep ready-to-eat meals<br>* Pantry clients will select no prep ready-to-eat meals for up to 14-days' worth of meals for themselves and 2-members of their household using an online food selection platform. The food retailer supplying the meals produces over 70 meals. We have elected to study 14-days of meals to offer clients variety and determine which flavors are most desirable to clients. After ordering, meals will be retrieved from a refrigeration unit, boxed by pantry staff, and brought to the participant to take home. An example dinner is Teriyaki Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli, and an example breakfast is Omelet with Peppers and Zucchini. Meals can be stored in a refrigerator or freezer and eaten immediately or after reheating depending on the meal and consumer preference.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Ingredient bundles (e.g. meal kits)<br> | Behavioral: Ingredient bundles (e.g. meal kits)<br>* Ingredient bundles will group individual meal ingredients (e.g., chicken, teriyaki, broccoli, potatoes) in a bag or box and pair those healthy food items with a recipe that instructs the client on how to make a healthier meal. Similar to the no prep ready-to-eat meal initiative, clients will select ingredient bundles for themselves and 2-members of their household using the food pantry online food selection platform. The ingredient bundles will closely replicate the no prep ready-to-eat meals.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hedonic liking of study foods | Liking of study foods will be measured by showing the name and picture of the meal or ingredient bundle and asking participants to respond to a hedonic 9-point bipolar scale with four measures of liking and four measures of dislike and a neutral neither like nor dislike | 14-days | 
| Acceptability of study foods | Acceptability will be measured by showing the name and picture of the meal and asking the client whether they and/or members of their household ate the meal within the past 2-weeks and whether they would select the meal again if given the opportunity in the future | 14-days | 
| Satisfaction of study foods | Satisfaction items will be adapted from previously validated food pantry client satisfaction surveys (e.g., How satisfied are you with the amount/variety/frequency of food that you and others in your household receive at this food pantry?) | 14-days | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Perceived diet quality | Perceived dietary quality will be measured using a single validated item that asks participants to rate their overall diet quality as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor | 14-days | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Food security, Food pantry, Diet quality, Intervention