Celebrate Your Plate – Ohio SNAP-Ed’s Social Marketing Campaign to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Access to healthy food, particularly fruits and vegetables, is a challenge for many Americans; less than 30 percent report consuming the volume per day recommended by the dietary guidelines for Americans. This crisis significantly impacts health outcomes, resulting in higher levels of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes in low-income communities. SNAP-Ed addresses this public health issue by providing nutrition education to individuals at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty line via direct education classes; policy, systems, and environmental change interventions (PSEs); and indirect education programming including social marketing. The SNAP-Ed social marketing campaign, Celebrate Your Plate, paid advertising to help promote fruit and vegetable consumption among low-income Ohioans included posters at convenience stores, cash jackets at check-cashing facilities, and digital advertising. An extensive evaluation conducted after year one informed next steps in the campaign during its second year.