Perspectives on Improving Healthy Food Access in Rural Eastern North Carolina

Objectives: To examine farmer suggestions for improving healthy food access in rural areas, and to evaluate the feasibility of using a mobile application to improve efficiency of a produce prescription program in rural eastern North Carolina. Methods: Qualitative interviews with farmers (N=5) were conducted via Zoom in Spring-Summer 2023. In July 2023, University students (N=10) beta-tested a mobile application by completing pre-determined tasks and were queried about potential improvements. Two independent coders developed consensus codebooks from verbatim transcripts, and independently coded each transcript. Results: Farmers suggestions included reaching out to community groups serving youth, re-branding farming as a more modern career, and donation stations for produce. Farmers viewed the mobile application as having promise to improve the reimbursement process yet were uncertain about the application’s potential to improve healthy food access among their customers. Among University students, the most popular features of the mobile application included the social networking and maps showing the nearest produce outlets. Conclusions: Research on increasing rural healthy food access is needed, with a focus on promoting local produce farming and creating non-conventional methods of increased access to healthy foods among rural residents.