Table 3. Focus Group Barriers and Code Frequencies, Qualitative Study of Perceived Barriers to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Low-Income Populations, North Carolina, 2011.

Barriers	Illustrative Quote	No. of Focus Groups That Referenced Barrier	No. of References Across All Focus Groupsa
Cost	“Just based on what I’ve seen here in the Durham area and in the Carolinas, in general, I can’t believe that they grow so much fruits and vegetables, and you can’t afford them! Up north, it’s different. At times the prices go up on fruits and vegetables, depending on the crops. But, basically, the fruits are cheaper, and it’s just kind of ironic to me to be in the South and see that you can’t afford hardly to eat the produce. It’s just really strange.” (black female, focus group 5)	8	103
Transportation	“I go on the bus . . . sometimes someone gives me a ride, but mostly I go on the bus. I make the trip by parts, because I cannot take many things [on the bus].” (Latina female, focus group 8)	8	26
Quality	“You have to go way into an upper-class neighborhood in order to get fruits and vegetables that actually look good enough to consume.” (black female, focus group 3)	8	26
Variety	“As far as having a variety of what you really want . . . no. Not in this community.” (black male, focus group 3)	7	10
Changing food environment	“When I was growing up, I never remember canned goods being in our house. Everything was fresh, because the vegetable man came every day!” (black female, focus group 6)	8	28
Changing societal norms	“The women don’t want to cook no more now. They’ll tell you right quick, ‘We’re going out to eat. I ain’t cooking nothing.’ So you don’t find women like my mother, my mother with 15 meals a day, and you come home and there was always a good meal waiting for them. But now, your wife look at you like, ‘I don’t feel like messing in no kitchen.’” (black male, focus group 1)	6	18

^a Total references were calculated based on the number of times participants made statements that were coded as that barrier.