Increasing Healthy Food Availability, Purchasing, and Consumption: Lessons Learned from Implementing a Mobile Grocery

Background: A mobile grocery (MoGro) was developed through a partnership with community stakeholders, community advisory boards (CABs), Rick and Beth Schnieders, and the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health (JHCAIH). MoGro provided access to subsidized healthy foods, with complementary events, including fitness activities and cooking classes. Objectives: MoGro is an innovative approach to promoting food security. Methods: Within a community-based participatory action research (CPBAR) framework, the JHCAIH and partners designed and administered household surveys at baseline and 3 months after MoGro's launch. A randomly selected 20% of households participated at each timepoint. Results: About 75% of respondents indicated that MoGro had changed the foods they purchased, and 68% reported that MoGro had changed how their families ate. After MoGro's launch, food availability increased significantly and food insecurity decreased. Conclusions: The evaluation documented MoGro's impact in the community; high self-reported positive changes, significant increases in food availability, and decreases in food insecurity.