IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i9p4977-d797520.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding SNAP Recipient Characteristics to Guide Equitable Expansion of Nutrition Incentive Programs in Diverse Food Retail Settings

Author

Listed:
  • Lauren Vargo

    (Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health Research, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA)

  • Timothy H. Ciesielski

    (Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health Research, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA)

  • Milen Embaye

    (Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health Research, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA)

  • Ana Bird

    (Produce Perks Midwest, Cincinnati, OH 45241, USA)

  • Darcy A. Freedman

    (Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health Research, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA)

Abstract

Structural barriers, such as food costs, reduce access to healthy foods for populations with limited income, including those benefitting from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Nutrition incentive programs seek to address this barrier. Evaluations of SNAP-based incentive programming often focus on one setting (i.e., either farmers’ markets or grocery stores). We examined use patterns, characteristics, and preferences among 253 SNAP consumers with access to incentive programming at both a farmers’ market and a grocery store located within five miles of their home. Cross-sectional survey data were collected in 2019 in two Ohio cities. Despite geographic access, 45% of those surveyed were not using the incentive program; most non-users (80.5%) were unaware of the program. Program users compared to non-users had higher household incomes ( p < 0.001) and knew more people using the program ( p < 0.001). Grocery stores were the most common setting of use (59%); 29% used at farmers’ markets; 11% used in both settings. User characteristics varied by store setting based on demographics, program experience, fruit and vegetable purchasing and consumption patterns, and social dynamics related to use. Our findings support comprehensive awareness-raising efforts and tailored implementation of incentive programming that attends to diverse segments of SNAP consumers to promote equity in program reach.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauren Vargo & Timothy H. Ciesielski & Milen Embaye & Ana Bird & Darcy A. Freedman, 2022. "Understanding SNAP Recipient Characteristics to Guide Equitable Expansion of Nutrition Incentive Programs in Diverse Food Retail Settings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:4977-:d:797520
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/4977/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/4977/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P & Gregory, Christian A & Singh, Anita, 2020. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2019," Economic Research Report 327207, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Swann, Christopher A., 2017. "Household history, SNAP participation, and food insecurity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-9.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bailey Houghtaling & Matthew Greene & Kaustubh V. Parab & Chelsea R. Singleton, 2022. "Improving Fruit and Vegetable Accessibility, Purchasing, and Consumption to Advance Nutrition Security and Health Equity in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-12, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jun Zhang & Yanghao Wang & Steven T. Yen, 2021. "Does Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity among Households with Children? Evidence from the Current Population Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Gundersen, Craig, 2021. "Viewpoint: A proposal to reconstruct the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a universal basic income program for food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Xu, Lei & Plakias, Zoë, 2022. "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Food Insecurity, and Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Appalachian Ohio," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322370, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Craig Gundersen, 2019. "The Right to Food in the United States: The Role of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 101(5), pages 1328-1336, October.
    5. Cesar Montalvo & Vicki Lancaster & Joseph J. Salvo & Stephanie Shipp, 2024. "A novel approach to assessing food insecurity for small geographic areas using household living budgets," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(6), pages 1569-1586, December.
    6. Dorceta E. Taylor & Ashley Bell & Destiny Treloar & Ashia Ajani & Marco Alvarez & Tevin Hamilton & Jayson Velazquez & Pwintphyu Nandar & Lily Fillwalk & Kerry J. Ard, 2024. "Defying the Food Desert, Food Swamp, and Supermarket Redlining Stereotypes in Detroit: Comparing the Distribution of Food Outlets in 2013 and 2023," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-59, August.
    7. Amier Haidar & Christine Markham & Allison Marshall & Ru-Jye Chuang & Meredith Spence & Jennifer Boone & Mike Pomeroy & Rich Dachman & Jaimie N. Davis & Shreela V. Sharma, 2021. "Innovative Partnerships to Address Food Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Brighter Bites Produce Voucher Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-10, August.
    8. Ellison, Brenna & Bruening, Meg, 2021. "Food Insecurity on College Campuses: FAQs," farmdoc daily, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, vol. 11(28), February.
    9. Brandon J. Restrepo & Matthew P. Rabbitt & Christian A. Gregory, 2021. "The Effect of Unemployment on Food Spending and Adequacy: Evidence from Coronavirus‐Induced Firm Closures," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 185-204, March.
    10. Katherine Consavage Stanley & Paige B. Harrigan & Elena L. Serrano & Vivica I. Kraak, 2021. "Applying a Multi-Dimensional Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy Model to Inform Research and Policies to Enable Adults in the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to Make Healthy Purchases ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-25, August.
    11. Robert Paul Hartley & Lauren Toppenberg & Shatakshee Dhongde, 2024. "Poverty and Disadvantage throughout Childhood in the United States," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(6), pages 2709-2737, December.
    12. Kristin F. Butcher & Lucie Schmidt & Lara Shore‐Sheppard & Tara Watson, 2023. "Living with children and food insecurity in seniors," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 234-261, March.
    13. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P & Gregory, Christian A & Singh, Anita, 2021. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2020," Economic Research Report 327186, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Drieda Zaҫe & Maria Luisa Di Pietro & Laura Reali & Chiara de Waure & Walter Ricciardi, 2021. "Prevalence, socio-economic predictors and health correlates of food insecurity among Italian children- findings from a cross-sectional study," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 13-24, February.
    15. Christine Borger & Courtney Paolicelli & Lorrene Ritchie & Shannon E. Whaley & Jill DeMatteis & Brenda Sun & Thea Palmer Zimmerman & Amanda Reat & Sujata Dixit-Joshi, 2021. "Shifts in Sources of Food but Stable Nutritional Outcomes among Children in the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-14, November.
    16. repec:plo:pone00:0202642 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Colleen Heflin & Xiaohan Sun, 2022. "Food Insecurity and the Opioid Crisis," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 703(1), pages 262-284, September.
    18. Olutosin Ademola Otekunrin & Ridwan Mukaila & Oluwaseun Aramide Otekunrin, 2023. "Investigating and Quantifying Food Insecurity in Nigeria: A Systematic Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-38, September.
    19. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P & Gregory, Christian A & Singh, Anita, 2020. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2019," Economic Research Report 327207, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Toossi, Saied, 2021. "COVID-19 Working Paper: Filling the Pandemic Meal Gap: Disruptions to Child Nutrition Programs and Expansion of Free Meal Sites in the Early Months of the Pandemic," Administrative Publications 327342, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    21. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Hales, Laura J. & Burke, Michael P. & Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, 2023. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2022," Economic Research Report 338945, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:4977-:d:797520. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.