The U.S. Department of Agriculture is pushing for stricter SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) regulations  that would force grocery retailers who accept food stamps to stock a broader variety of healthy foods or face the loss of business as consumers shop elsewhere.
The federal agency will soon begin testing a program that will allow food stamp users to shop online to get their groceries and have those products delivered to their homes.
The USDA’s proposed rule changes were developed to allow that the more than 46 million Americans who use food stamps have better access to healthy foods, although they will not mandate what people buy or eat. So, a qualified food stamp user could still utilize his or her SAP benefits to purchase as much junk food as they wanted, but they would at least have more options in the store to buy fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats and bread.
“USDA is committed to expanding access for SNAP participants to the types of foods that are important to a healthy diet,” Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said in a statement. “This proposed rule ensures that retailers who accept SNAP benefits offer a variety of products to support healthy choices for those participating in the program.”
In 2014, both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives required the USDA to develop regulations to make sure that stores that accept food stamp dollars, stock a wider array of healthy food choices.
Under current rules, SNAP retailers must stock at least three varieties of foods in each of four food groups: fruits and vegetables, dairy, breads and cereals, and meats, poultry and fish. The new rules would require the retailers to stock seven varieties in each food group, and at least three of the food groups would have to include perishable items. In all, the rules would require stores to stock at least 168 items that USDA considers healthy.
Those broadened proposed rules have led to criticism from smaller retailers who claim they don’t have the space available to add the extra items (as many as 168 extra SKUs) and would lose business to larger supermarkets and big-box retailers who have the space to carry the extra inventory.
The federal agency is also seeking volunteers and aligning its technology to ensure process integrity as it begins a test in the next few months to see if online procurement of groceries is a viable alternative for food stamp users. The USDA estimates that 11.5 million low-income households are located more than a smile from a grocery store and don’t have access to a motor vehicle.
Online delivery services such as Peapod and Fresh Direct are supporting this effort, too, but the agency acknowledged it is moving slowly partly because food stamp fraud remains a major concern.
Both the newly proposed food stamp regulations and the testing of online grocery deliveries emerged from the 2014 Farm Bill where Congress asked the USDA to update and reformulate some its SNAP benefits regulations. Annual federal funding for the SNAP program is $74 billion.
About 14 percent of all Americans receive at least some level of food stamp assistance. The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) reported that in a poll of 6,500 stores, 5.8 percent of total sales were amassed through food stamps.
