Improving Food Choices Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients

Abstract

We used a principal-agent framework to examine the feasibility of two proposed modifications to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with the goal of encouraging healthier food choices among program participants. Specifically, we analyzed two types of contract: a restricted contract and an incentive contract. The restricted contract did not allow the purchase of unhealthy foods with program benefits, but compensated participants by increasing total benefits. The incentive contract provided increased benefits that varied according to the percentage of healthy foods purchased with program benefits. The theoretical results revealed the mechanisms for the two alternative contracts, the conditions under which each would be effective, and the key empirical questions to be examined for future policy analysis.

Rewarding Healthy Food Choices in SNAP: Behavioral Economic Applications

“…Horgen and Brownell () showed that price reductions could lead to a greater consumption of healthy foods but that the accompanying health messages were inconsequential. Moreover, there is limited, if any, empirical evidence demonstrating that food education initiatives lead to successful weight loss (Elbel et al ; Finkelstein et al ; You, Mitchell, and Nayga ).…”

“…While restricting foods has the benefit of not directly requiring new SNAP funds, administrators would have to develop a metric for determining eligible foods, and it likely would have to cover a broader range of items than WIC does, given SNAP's broader policy goals and reach. Although SNAP administrators could rely on current nutrition and public health science to develop these metrics, once determined, the benefit‐compliant food list would need to be updated frequently to reflect the movement of products in and out of the U.S. food market (You, Mitchell, and Nayga ), particularly if food sellers lobby for SNAP approval on new or recently modified products.…”

“…Studies have shown that subsidizing purchases of healthy foods can raise the consumption of these items (Epstein et al , , ; Horgen and Brownell ). Whether a similar effect could be demonstrated in the full SNAP population has not yet been determined, but a few SNAP pilot initiatives have recently been conducted (as mentioned in Han, Powell, and Isgor ; You, Mitchell, and Nayga ), though not yet analyzed.…”