Publication Date

Fall 2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor

Rachel O’Malley; Hilary Nixon; Rachel Lazzeri-Aerts

Abstract

Studies indicate including farmers’ markets, mobile markets, and other local food systems improve fresh food access for low-income communities, especially when paired with food assistance programs that offer financial incentives. This study aims to evaluate mobile markets and farmers’ markets in the Bay Area using the five dimensions of food access: accessibility, availability, acceptability, affordability, and accommodation. The study is based on primary data collected from 173 in-person surveys at six mobile and eight farmers’ markets in the Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties. Key survey participants were market shoppers participating in food assistance programs. A mixed research methodology included Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests in SPSS for quantitative analysis, and NVivo for qualitative analysis. Quantitative analysis results indicate that mobile market shoppers had a greater percentage of Latinx shoppers and a smaller percentage of Asian shoppers (p<.001); were more likely to travel less than five miles (p=.017), more likely to supplement an EBT card with either cash or VeggieRx vouchers or debit/credit card (p<.001) than farmers’ market shoppers. Farmers' market shoppers were likely to spend more money (p<.001) and buy a greater quantity of produce and more varieties (p<.001) than mobile market shoppers. Qualitative analysis results indicated an overall positive shopping experience for mobile and farmers’ market shoppers. Although they do not offer the complete variety or large quantities of produce as farmers' markets, the new mobile market model brings fresh, local produce to a greater number of underserved neighborhoods, drawing more localized shoppers.

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