Farm to Work: Development of a Modified Community-Supported Agriculture Model at Worksites, 2007-2012

Background

The Farm to Work program is a modified community-supported agriculture model at worksites in Texas.

Community Context

The objective of the Farm to Work program is to increase fruit and vegetable intake among employees and their households by decreasing cost, improving convenience, and increasing access while also creating a new market for local farmers at worksites. The objectives of this article were to describe the development, implementation, and outcome of a 5-year participation trend analysis and to describe the community relationships that were formed to enable the successful implementation of the program.

Methods

The Farm to Work program began in November 2007 as a collaborative effort between the nonprofit Sustainable Food Center, the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Web development company WebChronic Consulting LLC, and Naegelin Farm. The program provides a weekly or biweekly opportunity for employees to order a basket of produce online to be delivered to the worksite by a local farmer. A 5-year participation trend analysis, including seasonal variation and sales trends, was conducted using sales data from November 2007 through December 2012.

Outcome

The total number of baskets delivered from November 2007 through December 2012 was 38,343; of these, 37,466 were sold and 877 were complimentary. The total value of sold and complimentary baskets was $851,035 and $21,925, respectively. Participation in the program increased over time and was highest in 2012.

Interpretation

The Farm to Work program increased access to locally grown fruits and vegetables for employees and created a new market for farmers. Increased program participation indicates that Farm to Work can increase employees’ fruit and vegetable consumption and thus help prevent chronic diseases in this population

Accessibility and preferred use of online Web applications among WIC participants with Internet access

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the current technology use of clients in the western Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) region and the preferences these current clients have for using new technologies to interact with WIC.

METHODS

Cross-sectional convenience sample for online survey of WIC clients over 2 months in 2011.

RESULTS

A weighted sample of 8,144 participants showed that the majority of WIC clients have access to the Internet using a computer or mobile phone. E-mail, texting, and Facebook were technologies most often used for communication. Significant differences (P < .05) existed between age groups and Facebook use, education level and technology use for education delivery, and education level and use of video chat.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Technologies should be considered for addressing WIC clients' needs, including use of text messaging and smartphone apps for appointments, education, and other WIC services; online scheduling and nutrition education; and a stronger Facebook presence for connecting with WIC clients and breastfeeding support.

Depressive symptoms, religious coping, and cigarette smoking among post-secondary vocational students

Depressive symptoms are associated with increased levels of cigarette smoking, yet not every individual experiencing depressive symptoms smokes. This study examined whether religious coping moderated the impact of depressive symptoms on past 30-day cigarette use among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 963 postsecondary vocational students (46.8% women; mean age = 25 years). Results from negative binomial regression analyses indicated that depressive symptoms increased the likelihood of cigarette smoking (quantity-frequency measure of cigarette use) for female students, whereas positive religious coping decreased the likelihood of smoking for female students. Consistent with religious coping theory and as expected, negative religious coping moderated the depressive symptoms-smoking relationship such that negative religious coping exacerbated the impact of depressive symptoms on cigarette smoking among females. Positive religious coping also moderated the depressive symptoms-cigarette smoking relationship for females. However, contrary to expectations, high levels of positive religious coping exacerbated the likelihood of cigarette smoking among females with high levels of depressive symptoms. Surprisingly, neither depressive symptoms nor positive or negative religious coping contributed to the likelihood of males' smoking. Study limitations and suggestions for directions in future research are discussed.

Discrimination, religious coping, and tobacco use among White, African American, and Mexican American vocational school students

This study examined whether religious coping moderates the impact of racial/ethnic discrimination on current (past 30 day) cigarette and cigar/cigarillo use among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 984 technical/vocational school students (47.1% women; mean age = 25 years). Results indicate that discrimination increased the likelihood of current cigarette use among African American students and current cigar/cigarillo use among white and African American students. Positive religious coping decreased the likelihood of cigarette and cigar/cigarillo smoking for white students only. Negative religious coping increased the likelihood of cigarette use for white students and cigar/cigarillo use for white and African American students. Two 2-way interactions indicate that positive and negative religious coping moderate the discrimination-cigarette smoking relationship for African American and Mexican American students, respectively.

Examining attachment to God and health risk-taking behaviors in college students

Drawing on insights from attachment theory, this study examined whether three types of attachment to God--secure, avoidant, and anxious--were associated with health-risk behaviors, over and above the effects of religious attendance, peer support, and demographic covariates, in a sample of 328 undergraduate college students. Contrary to prior theory, secure attachment to God is not inversely associated with recent alcohol or marijuana use, or substance use prior to last sexual intercourse. Instead, avoidant and anxious attachment to God are associated with higher levels of drinking; anxious attachment to God is associated with marijuana use; and avoidant attachment to God is associated with substance use prior to last sexual intercourse. These patterns are gender-specific; problematic attachment to God is linked with negative outcomes solely among men.

Right and left heart failure in severe H1N1 influenza A infection

Influenza infection can affect cardiac function. The recent pandemic of H1N1 influenza A provided an opportunity to study echocardiographic findings in critically ill infected patients. We hypothesised that critically ill patients with H1N1 infection would have a higher incidence of right and left heart failure than is seen in unselected populations of patients with septic shock and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We retrospectively studied all patients admitted to four intensive care units at three hospitals in Salt Lake County, UT, USA, with laboratory-confirmed H1N1 infection in whom a clinical echocardiogram was available. 23 out of 48 patients had qualifying echocardiograms. Right ventricular (RV) dilatation (50-80%) and at least moderate systolic impairment (23%) were common, higher than the range described in general populations with ARDS. Left ventricular systolic dysfunction was present in 17% of patients. No single echocardiographic parameter was associated with 28-day mortality or ventilator-free days to 28 days. Critically ill patients with H1N1 infection frequently exhibit right heart dilatation and failure. RV basal dilatation was extremely common. These patients have less left heart failure than expected on the basis of prior descriptions of influenza myopericarditis or of general populations of septic patients.

Measuring automatic retrieval

A variety of procedures have been used to assess automatic retrieval effects on memory, including implicit memory tests and the process dissociation approach. Theoretical concerns with each are summarized prior to describing a procedure for evaluating automatic retrieval that is based on retrieval speed. Specifically, in a speeded implicit task, participants were encouraged to complete word stems using strictly automatic retrieval by presenting several practice test trials that did not allow responding based on previously studied items and by encouraging speed of responding. This speeded implicit task was compared with a condition in which conscious retrieval of studied information was not possible and a condition in which conscious retrieval was required, providing converging evidence to support the hypothesis that the speeded implicit procedure can yield pure estimates of automatic retrieval. Furthermore, evidence from a standard implicit memory task yielded comparable data that suggests that participants engaged automatic retrieval processes on this task also.

Measuring automatic retrieval

A variety of procedures have been used to assess automatic retrieval effects on memory, including implicit memory tests and the process dissociation approach. Theoretical concerns with each are summarized prior to describing a procedure for evaluating automatic retrieval that is based on retrieval speed. Specifically, in a speeded implicit task, participants were encouraged to complete word stems using strictly automatic retrieval by presenting several practice test trials that did not allow responding based on previously studied items and by encouraging speed of responding. This speeded implicit task was compared with a condition in which conscious retrieval of studied information was not possible and a condition in which conscious retrieval was required, providing converging evidence to support the hypothesis that the speeded implicit procedure can yield pure estimates of automatic retrieval. Furthermore, evidence from a standard implicit memory task yielded comparable data that suggests that participants engaged automatic retrieval processes on this task also.

Analyzing estimates of automatic and conscious retrieval in between- and within-subjects designs

The process dissociation procedure (PDP) was developed as a means of quantifying the contributions of conscious and automatic retrieval to memory performance. Although the required inclusion and exclusion conditions are manipulated within subjects in most experiments, several researchers have expressed concerns that the instructions may be particularly difficult to follow under these conditions. Thus, manipulating instructions between subjects may have some advantages, although some aspects of the statistical analysis of conscious and automatic estimates are not routine in such a design. We describe a procedure for this analysis and present some initial data to illustrate its application to PDP. We also comment on other issues related to the calculation of estimates of automatic and conscious retrieval in between- and within-subjects designs.

Specificity of perceptual processing in rereading spatially transformed materials

While most studies using the task of reading spatially transformed text do not reveal evidence of specific perceptual transfer, a study by Masson (1986, Experiment 3) provides clear evidence of such effects. Several experiments were designed to identify the basis for this empirical discrepancy. The only substantive evidence of specific perceptual transfer occurred when the words were presented in an unfamiliar typography, although each study suggested a trend toward perceptual specificity effects. The results are discussed in terms of Graf and Ryan's (1990) ideas about the role of distinctive memory representations.

The use of indirect memory tests to assess malingered amnesia: a study of metamemory

Many techniques have been suggested for identifying criminal suspects who are simulating amnesia for the events surrounding a crime. The present research focuses on indirect memory tests as a potential means of discriminating between those who genuinely suffer from amnesia and those who are simulating. Subjects studied a list of words and subsequently performed either a word completion or a fragment completion task. Under normal indirect test instructions, typical priming effects were observed. When subjects were motivated to simulate amnesia for the list, target completion rates were consistently, and sometimes reliably, below baseline completion rates. This finding is contrary to the performance of genuine amnesics, whose performance on indirect tests typically mirrors that of normal subjects. Indirect tests may prove useful in discriminating genuine and simulating amnesics.

The use of indirect memory tests to assess malingered amnesia: A study of metamemory

Many techniques have been suggested for identifying criminal suspects who are simulating amnesia for the events surrounding a crime. The present research focuses on indirect memory tests as a potential means of discriminating between those who genuinely suffer from amnesia and those who are simulating. Subjects studied a list of words and subsequently performed either a word completion or a fragment completion task. Under normal indirect test instructions, typical priming effects were observed. When subjects were motivated to simulate amnesia for the list, target completion rates were consistently, and sometimes reliably, below baseline completion rates. This finding is contrary to the performance of genuine amnesics, whose performance on indirect tests typically mirrors that of normal subjects. Indirect tests may prove useful in discriminating genuine and simulating amnesics.

The processing of spatially transformed text

The present study shows that previous attempts to demonstrate explicit memory for orientation of spatially transformed text were inconclusive. In the present experiments, subjects read spatially transformed sentences and were then given a recognition test that permitted the use of only nonsemantic information. The results revealed clear evidence of incidental retention of nonsemantic information on an immediate test, no improvement in performance under intentional learning conditions, reduced but still better than chance retention following a 48-h delay, and little change in performance with anomalous sentences. These and other results involving the reading of spatially transformed materials are discussed in terms of the interaction of processing requirements at encoding and retrieval.