Source: REINVESTMENT PARTNERS submitted to NRP
COVID RELIEF 2018-70025-28161: SUPERSNAP EXPANSION TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO PURCHASE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1027059
Grant No.
2021-70034-35365
Cumulative Award Amt.
$5,000,000.00
Proposal No.
2021-07279
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2021
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2024
Grant Year
2021
Program Code
[NILS]- GusCRR nutrition incentive large scale projects
Recipient Organization
REINVESTMENT PARTNERS
110 E GEER ST
DURHAM,NC 27701
Performing Department
Reinvestment Partners
Non Technical Summary
Reinvestment Partners will use GusCRR funds to expand the SuperSNAP fruit and vegetable incentive program.SuperSNAP provides eligible recipients with $40 per month in direct incentives to purchase fruits and vegetables. SNAP recipients who are patients at participating health clinics in North Carolina will be enrolled in SuperSNAP through those sites. The health clinics are located in different regions of the state, including rural areas. SuperSNAP participants receive $40 in direct incentive funds for fruits and vegetables when purchasing SNAP-eligible food at Food Lion, the participating SNAP-authorized retailer, which has 500 stores across North Carolina. The direct incentive funds are stored on participant's Food Lion customer loyalty card and can be redeemed for the corresponding amount of FINI qualifying fruits and vegetables at Food Lion.We seek to expand SuperSNAP with GusCRR funds. The goals of the expanded SuperSNAP program are to (1) reach 10,000 additional SNAP participants with fruits and vegetables; (2) increase purchases of fruits and vegetables; (3) increase resiliency where the health and food systems intersect; (4) improve food security status; and (5) maximize nutrition incentive funds for participants.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
70460991010100%
Knowledge Area
704 - Nutrition and Hunger in the Population;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism;
Goals / Objectives
Increase the affordability of fruits and vegetables to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables and establish healthier eating habits.Increase the number of people we serve and to reduce financial barriers to purchasing healthy fruits and vegetables.Expand and improve the infrastructure for large scale incentive programs to make these programs easier to implement and easier for participants to use.
Project Methods
Reinvestment Partners distributes nutrition incentives by partnering with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs),health departments, and other health partners to identify eligible participants and enroll them into SuperSNAP, which offers participants $40 each month in incentive funds to purchase fruits and vegetables. Enrollers use a web-based enrollment portal developed by Reinvestment Partners to sign up eligible participants. Once enrolled, participants can immediately access $40 per month for eligible fruits and vegetables at Food Lion, the largest North Carolina grocery retailer which has 500 stores throughout the state and is a SNAP authorized retailer. Nutrition incentive funds are distributed electronically using Food Lion's customer loyalty card. Participants spend funds by purchasing eligible items at Food Lion using their customer loyalty card.

Progress 08/01/21 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:This project served over 33,000 SNAP beneficiaries across North Carolina. Participants were enrolled by a healthcare provider partner. Changes/Problems:The primary challenge with SuperSNAP was working with a major grocery retailer. It was sometimes difficult to navigate the layers of administration to get the resources we needed to effectively run the program. It took us a while to figure out how to configure our CRM to manage SuperSNAP data. However, once we got a handle of it, the program ran smoothly and we were able to serve a large number of participants with a stable platform. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have published multiple articles in academic journals and presented findings on webinars hosted by relevant stakeholder groups. We also presented our findings to the North Carolina General Assembly who went on to appropriate $5M in additional funds for the program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? This project accomplished each of the aforementioned goals. SuperSNAP distributed $4.5M in healthy food incentives to eligible participants. Participants nearly doubled their monthly purchases of fruits and vegetables. We served over 32,000 SNAP beneficiaries across North Carolina who received $40/month for fruits and vegetables. Funds were loaded onto participants' Food Lion MVP card. SuperSNAP helped us establish statewide infrastucture for distributing assistance funds to eligible participants quickly and easily. Thanks to SuperSNAP, RP was able to secure $5M in additional funds for participants. $9,090,566.12 in total has been spent to date and the program is anticipated to continue to serve eligible participants through June 2025.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Amy E. Lo, Neal Curran, Sierra Mullen, Shu Wen Ng, A produce prescription program for patients with low incomes in North Carolina resulted in increased produce purchases, Preventive Medicine, Volume 187, 2024, 108097, ISSN 0091-7435, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2024.108097. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743524002524)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Berkowitz SA?, Curran N?, Hoeffler S?, Henderson R?, Price A?, Ng SW?. Association of a fruit and vegetable subsidy program with food purchases by individuals with low income in the US. ? JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(8):e2120377. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.20377
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: https://www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org/resource/a-prescription-for-healthier-diets-supersnap-in-nc/


Progress 08/01/22 to 07/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:RP enrolled 24,271 participants during this reporting period spilt between two cohorts. The majority of eligible participants are SNAP beneficiaries on Medicaid who receive care management services from Community Care of North Carolina, a statewide care management agency. Participants were screened for food insecurity and enrolled over the phone by a care manager. The second cohort was enrolled by 2 participating rural FQHCs in North Carolina. Care managers at these FQHCs enrolled participants in person and over the phone. Participants reside across the entire state of North Carolina. Changes/Problems:The USDA approved a deadline extension on this project to allow RP more time to enroll more participants and distribute all grant funds. Thanks to this extension, RP will be able to distribute all of the grant funds in advance of the grant deadline. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?RP sends weekly reports to CCNC to monitor enrollment. RP is also working with a team of researchers at Duke and UNC to evaluate the health and healthcare utilization outcomes of participants. The study is ongoing and the final results are pending. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?RP and CCNC will continue working together to enroll eligible participants until the funding is fully spent down. The majority of the funds will be spent by August 2023. A smaller subset of participants will continue to receive benefits through July 2024, when the last of the funding will be spent down. This next reporting period will focus on winding down the program.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During this reporting period, RP enrolled 24271 participants across the entire state of North Carolina. Participants redeemed$3,333,296.56 on eligible fruits and vegetables. Each participant received $40 per month onto their Food Lion MVP customer loyalty card. RP provided participant support to all participants to ensure they were able to utilize the program.

Publications


    Progress 08/01/21 to 07/31/22

    Outputs
    Target Audience:During this first reporting period, Reinvestment Partners established a working partnership with Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC), which is a statewide care management agency providing remote care management services to North Carolina Medicaid beneficiaries. RP and CCNC executed the necessary agreements to outreach to eligible clients, educated them about the program, and enroll them over the phone. RP and CCNC launched the program in August 2022. Changes/Problems:The major change encountered in this first reporting period was that RP received an additional $5M from the North Carolina General Assembly. These additional funds were released in May 2022. This delayed the launch of the program but allowed RP to singficantly expand the scope of the program and partnerships required to effectively administer the program. As a result of this change, RP estimates that 50,000 participants will be enrolled for a 6 month total program duration. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The program officially launched immediately after the close of this reporting period. The next reporting period will capture the enrollment of thousands of program participants and the first year of benefit redemptions. We estimate that substantive progress will have been made at this point.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? RP set up the necessary agreements and operations during the reporting period. The improved and expanded infrastructure was designed in tandem with CCNC and has sufficient capacity to enroll up to 50,000 participants. The program launched on August 1, 2022.

    Publications