Grocery Stores Are Not Associated with More Healthful Food for Participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

AbstractObjective:The present study explored chronic disease management over the monthly benefit cycle among primary food shoppers from households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Philadelphia, PA, USA.Design:In-depth interviews, participant observation and surveys were conducted with the primary food shopper of SNAP households.Setting:Interviews and surveys were conducted in a clinical setting at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, at participants’ homes, and in food procurement settings including grocery stores, food pantries and soup kitchens.Participants:Eighteen adults who received SNAP; five with a diet-related chronic condition, five managing the chronic condition of a family member and thirteen with overweight or obesity.Results:All households had at least one member with a chronic disease or condition. Households reported that the dietary demands of managing chronic illnesses were expensive and mentally taxing. Food and financial shortfalls at the end of the benefit cycle, as well as reliance on charitable food assistance programmes, often had negative impacts on chronic disease self-management.Conclusions:Drawing from nearly 50 h of in-depth qualitative interviews with SNAP participants, the study highlights the dual cognitive burden of poverty and chronic disease and elucidates the particular challenges of food procurement and maintenance of diet quality throughout the benefit month faced by SNAP households with diet-related chronic diseases. Interventions targeted at reducing the cost of medically appropriate, healthy foods may help to improve chronic disease self-management within SNAP populations.

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Farmers' Market Utilization among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients in New Orleans, Louisiana: Preliminary Findings

Ethnicity & Disease ◽

10.18865/ed.27.s1.295 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 27 (Suppl 1) ◽

pp. 295

Author(s):

Henry Nuss ◽

Meg Skizim ◽

Hasheemah Afaneh ◽

Lucio Miele ◽

Melinda Sothern

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Internet Use ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Farmers Markets ◽

Grocery Stores ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

Farmers Market ◽

Transfer Payments ◽

Nutrition Assistance

Objective: Farmers’ markets are increasingly being promoted as a means to provide fresh produce to poor and underserved communities. However, farmers’ market (FM) use remains low among low-income patrons. The purpose of our study was to examine FM awareness and use, grocery shopping behaviors, and internet use among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.Design: A descriptive analysis of preliminary data was performed to evaluate quantitative baseline data among SNAP recipients between June and August 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana (N=51). Data were collected via a 42-item online survey that included demographics, internet use, FM awareness and use, health information seeking behaviors and fruit and vegetable purchasing behaviors.Results: Less than half of the survey respondents (n=24) had ever been to a FM. Local grocery stores and Wal-Mart were most used for purchasing fruits and vegetables (88% and 84%, respectively). The most common sources of healthy eating information were Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the internet, frequently accessed via smartphones. More than 80% of participants were not aware that local FMs accepted electronic benefit transfer payments as a form of payment.Conclusion: These results support the incorporation of promotional methodology that combines internet-based mobile technology and existing services (eg, WIC) as a viable strategy to improve farmers’ market use among low-income populations. As most participants were not aware that participating FMs accept electronic benefit transfer payments, this fact should be emphasized in promotional material.Ethn Dis. 2017;27(Suppl 1):295-302; doi:10.18865/ed.27.S1.295.

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Does Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity among Households with Children? Evidence from the Current Population Survey

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18063178 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 3178

Author(s):

Jun Zhang ◽

Yanghao Wang ◽

Steven T. Yen

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Current Population Survey ◽

Population Survey ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

Current Population ◽

Households With Children ◽

Nutrition Assistance

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to improve household diet and food security—a pressing problem confronting low-income families in the United States. Previous studies on the issue often ignored the methodological issue of endogenous program participation. We revisit this important issue by estimating a simultaneous equation system with ordinal household food insecurity. Data are drawn from the 2009–2011 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS), restricted to SNAP-eligible households with children. Our results add to the stocks of empirical findings that SNAP participation ameliorates food insecurity among adults only, but increases the probabilities of low and very low food security among children. These contradictory results indicate that our selection approach with a single cross section is only partially successful, and that additional efforts are needed in further analyses of this complicated issue, perhaps with longitudinal data. Socio-demographic variables are found to affect food-secure households and food-insecure households differently, but affect SNAP nonparticipants and participants in the same direction. The state policy tools, such as broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) and simplified reporting, can encourage SNAP participation and thus ameliorate food insecurity. Our findings can inform policy deliberations.

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