Thanks in part to pandemic shutdowns, a pilot initiative in Washington to increase the accessibility of online food shopping for SNAP participants is already close to its objective.
Although nearly 80% of recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, have access to online grocery shopping and delivery in the state, Shawna Beese, a PhD student in the WSU College of Nursing, found that these services are primarily available in urban areas.
The report, “Expansion of Grocery Delivery and Access for Washington SNAP Participants During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” was just peer-reviewed and published in “Preventing Chronic Disease” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The nursing and medical schools at WSU as well as WSU Extension are Beese’s co-authoring institutions.
The federal Farm Bill of 2014 included a provision for the pilot. The idea was that folks who don’t have dependable access to fresh, wholesome foods or who have mobility or transportation issues could benefit from being able to order groceries online for delivery.
Under that rule, which had already started when the COVID-19 epidemic occurred, Washington was one of several states to implement test programmes.
According to the survey, big retailers increased their investments in the infrastructure required for online grocery shopping and home delivery as more individuals started cooking at home and more people started purchasing online.
In states participating in the pilot programme, the Farm Bill reper centthat 80 percent of SNAP recipients have access to online grocery shopping.
According to Beese and her co-investigators, as of per cent1, 79.4 percent of Washington SNAP recipients have access to that information.
However, she claimed in an interview that “they’re all clustered around huge population centres.”
Despite the statistics, there remain vast areas of the state that are completely undeveloped.
A report suggests, that there may be barriers preventing SNAP recipients in the state from ordering and receiving groceries more easily online, such as a lack of high-speed Internet access and home computers.
As more people began cooking at home and more people began making purchases online, big retailers reportedly upped their investments in the infrastructure needed for online food shopping and home delivery.
The Farm Bill mandated that 80 per cent of SNAP users in states taking part in the pilot programme have access to online grocery shopping.
By the middle of 2021, 79.4% of Washington’s SNAP beneficiaries had access to that data, according to Beese and her co-researchers.
In contrast to King County, where access to home grocery delivery was almost universal, SNAP participants did not have it in 21 of Washington’s 39 counties.
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According to the report, there may be obstacles preventing SNAP beneficiaries in the state from more easily ordering and receiving groceries online, including a lack of high-speed Internet access and home computers.
It also implies that additional steps might entail collaborations with local grocers and farmer’s cooperatives to meet rural areas’ delivery demands.
