An Economic Analysis of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Consumption: Implications for Overweight and Obesity among Higher- and Lower-Income Consumers



various stores. Specifically, plantains and red bananas were more prominent in the lower-
income stores, although these varieties were a small share of total bananas sales in all stores.
Further, the demographic data revealed that there is more diversity among residents surrounding
the lower-income stores than there is among residents surrounding the higher-income stores.
This would suggest a demand for more variety in bananas. Finally, it should be observed that
bananas have the lowest own-price elasticity of all sub-categories of fruit. This result supports
the finding of other studies that have shown consumers to be the least price sensitive to the
lowest-priced product in a given product category (Lietag and Kaufman, 2003).

Melons are the second lowest-priced sub-category of fruit and lower-income shoppers are
shown to purchase higher quantity shares as a percentage of both total produce and total fruit.
Yet, lower-income shoppers are shown to have a higher own-price sensitivity (-2.26 versus -
1.99) and to pay a lower price per pound ($.85 versus $.97). These outcomes suggest careful
selections of the least expensive melons and they also suggest the role of price in influencing
product selection from within a product group. As a share of both total produce and total fruit,
bananas and melons are one and two for lower-income shoppers (Graphs 1 and 3). For higher-
income shoppers, both apples and citrus exceed the share of melons. These differences in
outcomes for the two income groups could reflect major differences in taste, but it is more
tenable to conclude that they reflect the impact of income constraints on shopping behavior.

Grapes and soft fruit are similarly priced and differences in prices paid by higher- and
lower-income shoppers are similar (Table 2 and Graph 5). As shown in Table 3, lower-income
shoppers are more price sensitive than higher-income shoppers, with relative elasticities of -1.71
versus -1.39. As a quantity share of total fruit, grapes are shown to be fairly equal for both
higher- and lower income consumers, but as a quantity share of total produce, grapes represent



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