Online grocery shopping improves healthy food access for SNAP families

A high cost of fresh fruits and vegetables and the need to restock them frequently can be barriers to healthy eating for low-income families. New Cornell University research shows that online grocery shopping, combined with incentive programs, can help.

The study, published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, examined the shopping habits of participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Double Up Food Bucks New York, a fruit and vegetable incentive program. They found that families with young children or transportation challenges were more likely to purchase fruits and vegetables online, including through store websites or Instacart.

For families with young children and limited time, or transportation challenges, it's really hard for them to get to the store regularly. Our study shows that these daily life barriers actually matter and that online purchasing is not simply about convenience for these families but more of an access strategy."

Eunyoung Myung, first author and postdoctoral researcher

Co-author Tashara Leak, associate professor, said the study undermines preconceptions about low-income families' shopping habits.

"People assume that if you have limited resources, you're not shopping for groceries online, but we find that's not true," said Leak. "And nationally, people are really interested in how we can support SNAP families with online grocery shopping to address accessibility, but there hasn't been a lot of research in this area."

"We're testing lots of different versions of Double Up to figure out how we can make it easier to sign up, how we can make it easier for them to use their benefits," said Leak. "A lot of families are really relying on SNAP to supply a large proportion of their groceries, and it's hard to dedicate those dollars to fruits and vegetables – that's why providing these incentives and figuring out how to encourage people to use these programs is the right thing to do."

The research comes amidst federal changes to SNAP that Cornell researchers find will strain state budgets and increase food insecurity. The upcoming changes add urgency to the streamlining and optimization of these programs, Leak said.

"There's a question of what's to come starting next year when states are going to be responsible for footing more of the bill for SNAP, and yet the need is still there," Leak said. "We still need to figure out how to get fruits and vegetables into the homes of SNAP families."

In a survey of more than 450 Double Up participants in New York state, the researchers found that nearly half of the participants used their SNAP dollars to purchase fruits and vegetables online; and that subset was more likely to include families with children between the ages of 0 and 4 or those with a travel time to a grocery store of more than 20 minutes.

In related research, the team is looking at how to communicate with and recruit SNAP participants to Double Up more broadly and the possibility of automatic enrollment.

Funding for the study came from the USDA.