SNAP participants' purchasing patterns at a food co-op during the COVID-19 pandemic: A preliminary analysis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the food system, increasing barriers to food access and exac­erbating food insecurity across the U.S. The Vir­ginia state government initiated a stay-at-home order to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, the Virginia Fresh Match (VFM) Nutrition Incentive Network partnered with food retail outlets to provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants point-of-purchase incentives (e.g., Double Up Food Bucks, SNAP Match), which function as matching discounts on fresh fruits and vegetables (F/V). These can enable participants to increase their purchasing power and potentially reduce food insecurity. In response to COVID-19, VFM removed the limit on incentive discounts (previ­ously $10[1]) to further incentivize the purchase of fresh F/V by SNAP participants. This study sought to characterize the purchasing patterns of SNAP participants at a food co-operative (co-op) partnered with VFM before and during the Virginia stay-at-home order. A total of 654 transactions at the co-op were included. Independent t-tests were utilized to determine differences before and during the order. The results indicated a significant in­crease in the mean incentive discount received dur­ing the order (pre-shutdown=$3.95, inter-shut­down=$5.01, p=0.035); however, simultaneously there was a decrease in the mean number of fresh F/V purchased (pre-shutdown=3.08, inter-shut­down=2.39, p=0.015). Although F/V purchases decreased, the presence of unlimited point-of-pur­chase incentives at the food co-op may have helped prevent a greater decline in fresh F/V pur­chases and helped increase access to fresh F/V in this population during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A snapshot of nutrition incentive adaptation during COVID-19: Consensus-building with practitioners

“…Another early-stage opportunity that reached final consensus, "Increased collaboration and networking between stakeholders," reflects recent literature suggesting that the building of community partnerships ("social bridging") was a unique opportunity for SBIP practitioners in the early stages of the pandemic (Nutrition Incentive Hub, 2020a, 2021a, 2021bWorstell, 2020). Finally, the panelists agreed that "Increased consumer interest in using SNAP and/or nutrition incentives…" was a highly salient opportunity in the early stages of the pandemic-a result supported by an empirically documented increase in consumer demand for food assistance programming, with nutrition incentive use accounting for dramatic spikes in SNAP use in 2020 compared with 2019 data (Nutrition Incentive Hub, 2021a; M. Parker et al, 2021).…”

“…With near-unanimous agreement, the panelists identified a significantly boosted interest in farmers markets and locally grown produce in the first several months of the pandemic, a likely consequence of disruptions to conventional food supply chains and prolonged stay-at-home orders (Hobbs, 2020;Kolodinsky et al, 2020). Although heightened local food interest and consumption from consumers in the early pandemic period were widely recognized, practitioners and researchers alike have expressed doubts that this interest would persist long-term (Broadaway & Spencer, 2021;Klisch & Soule, 2020;Nutrition Incentive Hub, 2021a;Parker et al, 2021).…”

“…The former item was positioned as a prominent health and safety practice in the early stages of the pandemic, with the implementation of limited entry designs, directional tape to manage customer flow, and other capacity control measures at farmers markets and other FDOs considered salient earlystage adaptations to COVID-19 (Broadaway & Spencer, 2021;Broadway & Wolnik, 2020;Klisch & Soule, 2020). The panelists' consensus on the "Targeted expansion of SNAP/EBT eligibility" is supported by literature emphasizing the number of FDO operators who were successful in modifying both the distribution timing and amount of nutrition incentives to improve FF&V access and mitigate food insecurity during the early 2020 period (Nutrition Incentive Hub, 2021c; M. Parker et al, 2021;Thilmany et al, 2020).…”

“…The limited examples of these process-oriented explorations have demonstrated value by providing a contextually grounded richness of data not typically found in outcome-focused impact assessments (Garner et al, 2020;Gusto et al, 2020;Savoie Roskos et al, 2017). The perspectives and expertise of SBIP practitioners-including FDO operators, technical assistance administrators, and regional program coordinators-became even more crucial after COVID-19's arrival, given the tumultuous and rapidly shifting SBIP operating conditions (Parker et al, 2021;Parks et al, 2021b).…”

A Preliminary Evaluation of Virginia Fresh Match: Impacts and Demographic Considerations for Future Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Programs

“…Through VFM, SNAP benefits spent by shoppers to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables are matched dollar for dollar. During the COVID-19 pandemic, VFM incentives were intended to increase the affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables and to provide important food access points for SNAP shoppers [ 20 ], as other incentive networks experienced increases in the number of customers seeking to use nutrition assistance benefits [ 21 ]. Given awareness of the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food security status of households with children as well as Black and Hispanic households [ 22 ], an evaluation of the impact of VFM incentives through a racial and household lens was warranted.…”