GUSNIP NUTRITION INCENTIVE GRANT

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1027414
• Grant No.: 2021-70030-35808
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $1,238,830.00
• Proposal No.: 2021-06520
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2021
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2025
• Grant Year: 2021
• Program Code: [FLSP]- FINI Large Scale Project

Recipient Organization
HUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA
555 PARK ST STE 400
SAINT PAUL,MN 551032276

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
For low-income residents, often times buying fresh produce is just financially out of reach. Even with help from programs like SNAP, buying local, fresh healthy items isn't affordable so households go without the produce they need to be healthy. Minnesota's Market Bucks program helps low-income customers using SNAP benefits stretch their buying power at farmers markets and mobile markets throughout Minnesota. Market Bucks is a dollar-for-dollar match on SNAP user spending on fresh, local foods. GusNIP funds will also match SNAP user spending on fruits and vegetables, helping customers afford more healthy foods at their farmers market.Our aim is to improve the diet and ultimately the health of low-income Minnesotans by improving access to fresh, local, healthy food items. We measure this through user surveys of farmers market customers, asking them to recall the amount of different foods they have eaten in the last 30 days.By improving access to healthy produce at farmers markets we help low-income Minnesotans improve their health, we help make farmers markets more accessible to members of their communities, and we help farmers sell more products, ultimately resulting in greater economic activity and more vibrant communities. During the 2020 farmers market season (May-October 2020), nearly 13,000 Minnesotans used Market Bucks and the spent $276,920 in SNAP benefits and $184,365 in Market Bucks. By doubling the match available using GusNIP funding, we will have greater impact.

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
703	6010	3000	100%

Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior;

Subject Of Investigation
6010 - Individuals;

Field Of Science
3000 - Anthropology;

Keywords

market bucks

minnesota

snap

farmers markets

hunger

produce

Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Increase purchase of fruits & vegetables by low-income customers participating in SNAP by providing an incentive at farmers markets and mobile markets.The GusNIP Nutrition Incentive will match SNAP customer spending on fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and mobile markets dollar-for-dollar, enabling SNAP users to purchase more local produce. SNAP customers will increase the self-reported amount of fruits and vegetables purchased as measured through a survey at the farmers market. We can also use the dollar value of GusNIP Nutrition Incentives redeemed to demonstrate an increased purchase of fruits and vegetables. As a result of the additional nutrition incentives will improve the diet quality of participants and decrease food insecurity among participants.Goal 2: Increase the number of SNAP customers utilizing farmers markets to purchase fruits & vegetables.More SNAP customers will participate in the Nutrition Incentive program, with a goal of increasing the number of new SNAP customers using the famers market by 15% from the previous market season. This is measured through self-reported data from the market managers.Goal 3: Increase the number of markets participating in the program to expand opportunities to participate in additional locations.More participating farmers market locations mean more SNAP users will have opportunities to utilize their benefits at the farmers market. Our goal is to retain 90% of the participating locations from the 2020 market season and add 5 additional participating locations. At the new participating locations, we will survey customers to determine if they were aware of the program before or if they had previously used SNAP and incentive dollars at other markets.

Project Methods
The project will test whether or not nutrition incentives in the form of matching dollars for fruit and vegetable purchases increases the amount of produce purchased and consumed by SNAP customers.SNAP customers will use their benefits at farmers markets and receive a match on their SNAP spending to be used on fruits and vegetables. In addition to the intervention of providing the matching Market Bucks, the project will survey SNAP customers about their dietary intake, program use, and food security status to see whether the intervention has improved their diet or food security status. This survey will be offered in a few formats: as a paper survey distributed and collected by the farmers market and as an online survey with a link provided by the market to customers to complete on their own smartphone or tablet devices. Survey results will be tracked throughout the market season to determine if the early season or first-time market customers indicate an improvement in their dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (based on recall of consumption in the last 30 days). Data will be compiled and analyzed twice annually at the conclusion of the winter market season (November-April) and the regular summer season (May-October) and comparisons will be made between the season types and years of the program. Data will also be collected through the customer survey to help market manager and program administrators better understand how customers find out about the program and how to better target outreach to eligible SNAP users. In order to determine whether the intervention increaseduse of SNAP & Market Bucksprograms to purchase produce, we will compare prior years' Market Bucks reimbursements to see if the doubled match has the expected impact on the amount of matching dollars spent on produce or if customers spend about the same amount at the farmers market regardless of the level of matching dollars. In addition to the user survey, the program team will conduct a process survey of market managers and vendors to determine how well they perceive the program is going and identify areas for improvement. This evaluation will happen annually shortly after the end of the regular market season in October.

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary potential target audience for the project is the monthly average of approximately 220,000 households receiving SNAP in Minnesota during the time period. Of these 11,096 unique individuals utilized the Market Bucks match and stretched their buying power at participating markets. These customers are primarily reached by word-of-mouth or through community partners sharing information about the program. Some are returning customers from previous market seasons. Our secondary audiences arefarmers and mobile market managers participating in the program. They are reached through a monthly e-newsletter with program updates and information, as well as through one-on-one support to markets provided by our project director or through a network of local public health, SNAP-Ed, and other nonprofit partner staff who help support markets with direct technical assistance. Changes/Problems:One challenge we have had in rolling out the additional fruits and vegetable incentivehas been that we were doing this at the same time as SNAP households had extra pandemic-related emergency allotments to spend -- raising the amount of SNAP benefits available by at least $95 per household. From anecdotal information from markets, customers are spending more than the maximum SNAP amount required to get the full match and they are visiting a little more often because they have more dollars to spend. We are also in a period of high food price inflation, leading some customers to try to find other ways to stretch their limited food dollars. As a result, we're seeing more SNAP customers spending more money at the farmers markets than we had originally anticipated in the first year of the GusNIP funding. With emergency allotments ending and food inflation slowing, we anticipate future years will see a decrease in incentiveand SNAP dollars spent at farmers markets. 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 reported the results of the 2022 market season to communities of interest through a presentationat the Minnesota Farmers Market Association conference and to other local groups like public health, SNAP Education, and SNAP Outreach workersin the lead-up to the 2023 market season. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goal 1: We plan to continue to offer the fruit and vegetable match to customers through farmers and mobile markets and track the dollar value of incentive dollars redeemed. During the 2022 season, we plan to survey customers to learn more about the changes in dietary intake that are the result of the program. Goal 2: We are working with a collaborative group of public health departments to increase outreach to eligible customers, particularly among communities of color and indigenous communities. Our hope is that by pooling the resources of multiple local organizations, we can develop shared marketing materials have and grow our reach in targeted communities. Goal 3: Part of the work in collaboration with public health departments is also focused on identifying new market locations that could participate in the program and identifying the support they need to participate. Since navigating the SNAP authorization and incentive program requirements can be burdensome for smaller, volunteer-run markets, some markets may partnerwith other nonprofits or local governments to support administration ofthe program.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1:Increase purchase of fruits & vegetables by low-income customers participating in SNAP by providing an incentive at farmers markets and mobile markets. During the grant period, SNAP customers redeemed $110,244 in fruit and vegetable incentives at participating farmers and mobile markets. Goal 2: Increase the number of SNAP customers utilizing farmers markets to purchase fruits & vegetables. During the previous time period, 8,901 customers utilized the incentive program. During the grant period 11,096 customers utilized the program, an increase of 24.6%. Goal 3: Increase the number of markets participating in the program to expand opportunities to participate in additional locations. The number of participating farmers and mobile market locations increased 23.9% from 88 in the previous year to 109 during the reporting period. No markets left the program between the 2021 and 2022 market seasons.

Publications