Report Publish Date: January 2022

This brief describes the findings of three research grants funded by RWJF’s Health Eating Research COVID-19 Rapid-Response Funding Opportunity in summer 2020.

Primary Takeaways

Study 1: Administration of and Access to SNAP benefits

State waivers for the SNAP program during the pandemic helped keep benefits available to many people. But the waivers were too short and rigid, and a coordinated response would have been much more effective if they had happened earlier. State infrastructures did not meet the increased needs of the pandemic.

Study 2: Equitable Expansion of the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot

People in food deserts have less access to online purchasing. Other barriers that keep people from being able to use SNAP to purchase groceries online include distrust of technology and concerns about online privacy; poor access to the internet; and people’s perception that it costs more to shop for groceries online than it does to buy them in store. In addition, unhealthy food and beverage marketing dominates online purchasing platforms.

Study 3: Using a Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy Model to Enable Adults Participating in SNAP to Make Healthy Purchases in the Online Food Retail Ecosystem

Having higher food and nutrition literacy is associated with better health and more food security. More research is needed to understand what knowledge helps people make healthy online food purchases. There are many ways the government, retailers, nonprofits, and nutritionists could promote digital food and nutrition literacy and the marketing and offering of healthy groceries online.

Overview and Objectives

The federal government responded to increasing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding SNAP online purchasing to many more people and states, with the goal of getting healthy food to more households. RWJF funded three research grants to help understand how the emergency program changes affected people’s diets, food security, and health and economic outcomes.
 

Hypothesis or Approach 

Study 1 was a mixed methods study of SNAP administrators that included a nationwide survey and focus groups.

Study 2 reviewed evidence available in 2021 on the equitable expansion of the SNAP online purchasing program.

Study 3 was a scoping review of published literature measuring digital food and nutrition literacy among U.S. adults.
 

How This Influences Change

“Findings from these three rapid-response projects emphasize the importance of modernizing the SNAP program,” the authors write. “Yet additional policy, program, and research efforts are needed in the short-term to improve both states’ ability to administer SNAP and improve the availability and accessibility of services.”