The California Dietary Practices Survey (CDPS) is nationally recognized as the oldest, state-specific tracking survey for fruit and vegetable intake in the country. Before this study, the examination of trends over time, especially for the race/ethnic groups of interest and for their low-income cohort, could not rule out seasonal effects. Because the CDPS has not always spanned the exact same months, although generally it covers July through October, seasonal issues concerning the race/ethnic samples have been suspect. The results of this study enhance both the interpretative dimensions of past and future CDPS findings. This study set out to achieve four objectives that are intended to illuminate and augment observations and methodological issues related to the CDPS in tracking fruit and vegetable consumption in the California population. The first and primary objective is to explore whether seasonal variation exists during the months of the year. The second is to quantify differences among, and seasonality effects as it relates to, the race/ethnic groups tracked by the CDPS, specifically Whites, Latinos, and African Americans. The third objective is to see if Latino acculturation plays a role in seasonal differences. And fourth, nested within this study is the calibration of a short form version of the CDPS dietary collection method. This study assesses this short form as a possible low-cost substitute data collection tool for tracking fruit and vegetable intake.

Compiled with data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, this study found that more than three-quarters of a million low-income adults in Los Angeles County have a difficult time reliably putting enough food on the table and thus are considered "food insecure." Among these adults, 214,000 suffer from hunger and another 561,000 live at risk for hunger day to day. Most importantly, the study found that food insecurity and hunger are found in all parts of the county. Food insecurity among low-income adults is most likely to affect African Americans (36.1%) and Latinos (33.2%), while one out of four low-income Asian adults (25.4%) and one out of five Whites (20.9%) are estimated to experience food insecurity. In addition to the countywide findings, the report estimates food insecurity within the eight service planning areas managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and for each of the county's 26 health districts. The authors also make several policy recommendations to address the problem of food insecurity, including increasing capacity and outreach efforts of food banks and charitable food programs and expanding government efforts to increase participation in food assistance programs such as the Food Stamp program.

More than 2.24 million low-income adults in California cannot always afford to put food on the table and, as a result, almost one out of three of these adults, 658,000, experiences episodes of hunger. This is a sad reality in a state that has the largest agricultural economy in the United States and produces an abundance of high-quality fruits and vegetables for much of the nation. The ranks of "food insecure" Californians include not just the most impoverished individuals but working adults, retired older persons with fixed incomes, and many parents with children. These new findings are based on data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001). CHIS 2001 is California's largest representative health survey of the state and its counties. The survey included a sizeable sample of the estimated 8 million low-income Californians -- those living in households with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level. It was found that more than 8.3% of these low-income adults experience food insecurity with hunger. Another 20.0%, one out of five low-income adults, experiences food insecurity that falls short of hunger. Food insecurity, with or without hunger, causes families to forego such basic needs as rent, utilities, and medical care in order to put food on the table. Food security is defined as access to an adequate nutritious diet. Food security is a goal of any society, essential for the good health of all. Based on these new CHIS 2001 findings, the paradox of food security and hunger in food-abundant California clearly shows that this state can do better.