Low-income communities are online.
According to the Pew Research Center, Internet use has been increasing among American adults over the past 15 years, from 52% in 2000 to 85% in 2015. The largest growth in Internet use, however, has been among low-income households and seniors.
- 74% of low-income Americans use the Internet.
- 13% of low-income Internet users are smartphone-dependent, meaning their phone is the only way they are able to access the Internet.
- 32% of low-income Americans have accessed the Internet for free from somewhere other than home, school, or work in the past 12 months.
- 62% of smartphone owners have used their phone to look up information about a health condition.
- 30% of smartphone owners have used their phone to take a class or get educational content.
Leah's Pantry Online Interventions
A large portion of our target population is online looking for health information, so we built online tools to meet our population where they are. Online nutrition education allows for flexibility, consistency in nutrition messaging, and the convenience of on-demand resources.
In September 2013, we launched EatFresh.org, a nutrition and recipe resource for low-income Californians and the organizations that serve them. In Fall 2015, we introduced the EatFresh.org Mini Course to compliment EatFresh.org and to offer a guided pathway through core nutrition topics online.