Does food retail access moderate the impact of fruit and vegetable incentives for SNAP participants? Evidence from western Massachusetts

• Studied the impact of a 30% price incentive for fruits and veg. purchased through SNAP.
• Investigated how households’ food retail environments moderated intervention impact.
• Levels of F&V spending at participating retailers differed by HHs’ retail environment.
• But, food retail environment did not significantly change the impact of the incentive.
• Living far from supermarkets unlikely to reduce the efficacy of SNAP price incentives.

ObjectivesThis study investigates whether the response of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to a 30% incentive on fruit and vegetable spending varies with their access to food retailers.MethodsThe analysis exploits the random assignment of SNAP households in Hampden County, MA, to an intervention group that earned the incentive. Regression models for the impact of the incentive are augmented with measures of food retail access and interactions of random assignment status with food retail access. The main outcome—use of the SNAP benefit—is based on Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card transaction records.ResultsAlthough households that lived within a mile of a participating supermarket spent approximately $2.13 or 19% more per month on targeted fruits and vegetables at participating supermarkets than households that did not live within a mile of a participating supermarket, we found no evidence that the impact of the incentive on SNAP fruit and vegetable spending varies with distance to retailers.ConclusionsThese findings imply that incentives to purchase fruits and vegetables were equally efficacious for SNAP households with high and low access to food retailers.