Real Food for Kids SNAP Demonstration Project

Realizing nutrition equity for SNAP participants by increasing affordability of fruits and vegetables

It is known that most SNAP recipients do not consume the USDA recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables (FVs), with cost cited as a primary barrier to their consumption. Further, SNAP benefits can be used to purchase sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which have limited nutritional value and are a major driver of the excess calorie intake that drives obesity and other diet-related diseases.  There are thus opportunities to modify SNAP policies and enhance the public health benefit of this critical safety net program.

Real Food for Kids’ proposed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Demonstration Project in Arlington County, VA offers a $0.30 financial incentive for any dollar spent to purchase fruits and vegetables with SNAP benefits, while restricting the incentive if sugar-sweetened beverages are purchased using SNAP benefits.

Our country faces a health crisis stemming from dietary related diseases that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. This study specifically addresses the two factors that reduce those risks – increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Real Food for Kids’ work in Arlington follows a decade of successful work in nutrition education in schools and advocating for improvements to school meal programs. Their commitment to centering the voices of partners and participants in their work and engaging stakeholders at all levels to achieve lasting change uniquely suits them to lead this SNAP Demonstration Project toward its eventual goal of expanding a produce incentive model throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
– Dena Leibman, Executive Director, Future Harvest

PROJECT RESEARCH PARTNERS

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Virginia Commonwealth University

University of Illinois – Chicago

University of Minnesota

University of North Carolina

Special Thanks to United States Senator Mark S. Warner and senator cory booker for their Letters of Support.