Matthew Greene, Ruthie Losavio and Denise Holston

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the ways LSU AgCenter specialists and agents serve the public, and those working for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) are no exception. The SNAP-Ed program provides nutrition education to those who are eligible for or receiving SNAP benefits, which were previously known as food stamps. These educational programs were delivered face-to-face before the pandemic and then quickly adapted to a virtual format.

Nutrition education has become especially important during the pandemic because of an increase in the unemployment rate in Louisiana, an increase in Louisiana residents eligible to receive SNAP benefits, and increases in food insecurity, which has resulted in longer lines at food pantries. The SNAP-Ed program has been shown to alleviate food insecurity by helping people make healthier, more cost-effective food choices on a limited budget.

Given the rapid change to a virtual delivery format and the increased importance of the SNAP-Ed program, the LSU AgCenter SNAP-Ed leadership wanted to ensure that the program was adapted to the needs and preferences of potential participants. Program leaders also wanted to assess the public’s attitudes toward the behaviors necessary to control the spread of the virus, including physical distancing, mask wearing and hand-washing. To accomplish this, SNAP-Ed staff across the state distributed a survey to their network of potential program participants and partners who work with people eligible for SNAP-Ed. The survey asked participants to report their attitudes about behaviors used to slow the spread of COVID-19 and preferences for the delivery of nutrition education. Participants also reported their race, age and eligibility for the SNAP-Ed program so that researchers could assess whether attitudes and preferences differed across these categories.

Of the 458 participants completing the survey, the majority were white (62%), female (91%), aged 18 to 50 (65%) and eligible for SNAP-Ed (57%). Most agreed that it was important to wash their hands (99%) and physically distance from others (95%) to avoid the coronavirus, but a smaller majority felt that it was important to wear face masks in public (79%). Attitudes toward wearing masks were significantly different across categories of race. African Americans were more concerned about the risk posed by in-person programming and more likely to report that they would prefer live virtual lessons, online quizzes and workbooks compared to white participants. Respondents over 50 were significantly more likely to say it was important to wear masks, less likely to feel uncomfortable covering their faces and more likely to prefer a written or workbook format for nutrition lessons compared to participants under 50. SNAP-Ed-eligible participants did not differ significantly from higher-income participants in their attitudes toward virus prevention behaviors but were more likely to say they would prefer online quizzes as part of virtual nutrition education.

Although the survey results do not represent the opinions of people outside the LSU AgCenter SNAP-Ed audience, they provide valuable information for SNAP-Ed staff. Results indicate that it may be appropriate for nutrition education conducted by the LSU AgCenter to occur in person because most potential program participants agree with COVID-19 precautions. All in-person programs conducted by the LSU AgCenter require that participants wear masks and observe social distancing. In addition, the attitudes and preferences expressed by African American participants indicate that nutrition education for African Americans may better reach participants if it is done virtually rather than in-person.

Matthew Greene is the SNAP-Ed evaluation coordinator; Ruthie Losavio is the SNAP-Ed communications coordinator; and Denise Holston is an assistant professor and principal investigator for SNAP-Ed in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences.

(This article appears in the winter 2021 issue of Louisiana Agriculture magazine.)

SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator Christi Mitchell leads an online nutrition education program. Photo by Christi Mitchell