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Food & Nutrition Assistance

Man and woman look through a box of canned food at a food bank

U.S. state and nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provide benefits to supplement the food budget of families in need. Our team researches the effects of various changes or additions to program benefits — either proposed or implemented — and their impact on nutritional outcomes and health disparities.

Most recently, we have evaluated the impacts of programs and benefits initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide additional financial support to households with food insecurity for purchasing healthy fruits and vegetables. These include WIC cash vouchers and North Carolina’s SuperSNAP and Healthy Helping produce prescription programs. Our research thus far finds that these programs are well-liked by participants and effective at increasing purchases and intake of healthy fruits and vegetables. Shu Wen Ng and colleagues are currently conducting a study on the short-term health impacts of a similar fruit and vegetable prescription program.

Resources

A prescription for healthier diets: SuperSNAP in NC

Policy brief describing SuperSNAP, a Food is Medicine program in NC. Starting in September 2019, the SuperSNAP program enrolled individuals with diet-related health conditions receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in nine federally qualified health centers across North Carolina. SuperSNAP participants received $40 per month to spend on fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables without additives at a participating NC-based chain retailer with around 500 stores across North Carolina. This policy brief includes reflections from surveys with consumers, NC retailers, and healthcare providers on the success of the SuperSNAP program.

Comments for USDA Revised WIC Food Package

The Global Food Research Program's comments submitted in response to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service's proposed updates to foods provided through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

WIC cash value benefit increase: A key step toward healthier families

Policy brief summarizing findings from a study about WIC participants’ experiences with changes to the program’s cash value benefit for buying fruits and vegetables during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers sought to understand WIC participant perceptions of this change and barriers and facilitators to using the CVB.

Research brief: How Healthy Helping supported North Carolinians

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Reinvestment Partners leveraged CARES Act funds to provide over 30,000 North Carolinians with money for buying healthy foods. Participants in the Healthy Helping fruit and vegetable prescription program experienced improved food security and nearly doubled their purchases of fruits and vegetables, demonstrating that the produce prescription model can be scaled and […]

Publications

Planning laws as part of a systems approach are needed to improve children's health and reduce inequalities
Authors: Shu Wen Ng, Christina Vogel
Published in: Current Developments in Nutrition, September 13, 2024 view full text

Opportunities and challenges of California's Fruit and Vegetable Electronic Benefit Transfer pilot project at farmers' markets: A qualitative study with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program shoppers and Farmers' Market Staff
Authors: Carolyn Chelius, Ron Strochlic, Sridharshi Hewawitharana, Wendi Gosline
Published in: Nutrients, September 25, 2024 view full text

A produce prescription program for patients with low incomes in North Carolina resulted in increased produce purchases.
Authors: Amy Lo, Neal Curran, Sierra Mullen, Shu Wen Ng
Published In: Preventative Medicine, August 11, 2024 view full text

Grocery purchase changes were associated with a North Carolina COVID food assistance incentive program
Authors: Caitlin M. Lowery, Richard Henderson, Neal Curran, Sam Hoeffler, Molly DeMarco, Shu Wen Ng
Published in: Health Affairs, November 7, 2022 view full text

Did A Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program Support low-income Households in North Carolina during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Mixed Methods Assessment of the Healthy Helping Program and Other Pandemic-Related Food Assistance
Authors: Isabel Lu, Brett Sheppard, Shu Wen Ng, Sarah Burstein, Emile Charles, Taylor Williams
 and Molly De Marco
Published in: Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, August 7, 2022 view full text

"I think that's the most beneficial change that the WIC has made in a really long time": Perceptions and awareness of an increase in the WIC Cash Value Benefit
Authors: Emily W. Duffy, Daniele A. Vest, Cassandra R. Davis, Marissa G. Hall, Molly De Marco, Shu Wen Ng, Lindsey Smith Taillie
Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, July 16, 2022 view full text

COVID-19 pandemic-era nutrition assistance: Impact and sustainability
Authors: Caitlin Caspi, Hilary Seligman, Jerica Berge, Shu Wen Ng, James Krieger
Published in: Health Affairs, May 5, 2022 view full text

Association of a fruit and vegetable subsidy program with food purchases by individuals with low income in the US
Authors: Seth A. Berkowitz, Neal Curran, Sam Hoeffler, Richard Henderson, Ashley Price, Shu Wen Ng
Published in: JAMA Network Open, August 11, 2021 view full text

Sugar-sweetened beverage reduction policies: Progress and promise
Authors: James Krieger, Sara Bleich, Stephanie Scarmo, and Shu Wen Ng
Published in: Annual Review of Public Health, April 1, 2021 view full text