(P24-023-23) Relationships Between Household Food Sourcing Patterns and Food Security in Appalachian Ohio

Objectives: Households experiencing food insecurity may use dynamic strategies to meet their food needs. Yet, the relationship between food sourcing strategies and food security, particularly in rural settings, is understudied. To this end, we sought to identify food sourcing patterns and their relationships with food insecurity among households in rural Appalachian Ohio.

Methods: We used data from a cohort of adults in Athens County, Ohio in July 2020 (n=661), October 2020 (n=292), January 2021 (n=204), and April 2021 (n=314). Participants reported their household’s frequency of obtaining food from various retailers and charitable sources, classified as: supercenters, supermarkets, convenience stores, farmers’ markets, or charitable sources. We used principal components analysis to identify food sourcing patterns and linear mixed models (LMM) to assess changes in patterns over the study period and to determine whether food-insecure households followed different food sourcing patterns than food-secure households, adjusting for education, employment status, and household size, income, and federal food assistance.

Results: We identified two patterns: 1) Convenience Stores and Charitable Food, 2) Supermarkets and Farmers’ Markets, not Supercenters. The patterns were relatively stable over time; however, relative to July 2020, concordance with the “Convenience Stores and Charitable Food” pattern was lower in April 2021 (β=-0.07; p< 0.05) and concordance with the “Supermarkets and Farmers’ Markets, not Supercenters” pattern was higher in October 2020 (β=0.07; p< 0.05). Compared to food-secure households, food-insecure households were more likely to follow the “Convenience Stores and Charitable Food” pattern (β=0.07; p< 0.05) and equally likely to follow the “Supermarkets and Farmers’ Markets, not Supercenters” pattern (p >0.05). These associations did not change over time.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need to increase access to healthy, affordable options where households experiencing food insecurity frequently obtain food, such as convenience stores and charitable sources.

Funding Sources: Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network; Ohio State University Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation and Office of Outreach and Engagement