The U.S. Department of Agriculture is presently accepting proposals for a $5 million competitive grant that intends to increase the number of merchants that provide online purchasing for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
According to the USDA’s website, an entity that can support merchants’ online shopping technology and processes will get funding from the SNAP EBT Modernization Technical Assistance Center programme, which was announced on July 7. The idea is to increase the number of stores SNAP participants can choose from when doing their grocery shopping online.
A federal programme called SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, assists low-income households with their food shopping. Electronic benefit transfer cards are currently used by beneficiaries to pay.
Big-box stores like Target and Walmart as well as national and local grocery chains including Wegmans, Kroger, Publix, Food Lion, Safeway, Aldi, and ShopRite already accept SNAP online purchases. Numerous smaller supermarkets now provide online SNAP purchasing.
The deployment or updating of e-commerce sites that enable them to offer online services that satisfy SNAP regulations, however, still presents many grocery merchants with technological difficulties or a lack of resources.
This article’s new grant programme from the USDA will offer technical assistance to these smaller, independent retailers so they may offer online shopping for SNAP enrollees.
Online grocery shopping, according to Stacy Dean, the USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, “improves access and convenience for all, especially low-income families.”
“We are enthusiastic about the potential for this funding to give new and existing businesses tools to redeem SNAP benefits in ways that improve the customer experience for SNAP participants, especially those who face challenges getting to a physical shop,” the statement reads.
Online grocery shopping, according to Stacy Dean, the USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services, “improves access and convenience for all, especially low-income families.”
“We are excited about the potential for this funding to provide new and existing businesses tools to redeem SNAP benefits in ways that improve the customer experience for SNAP participants,” the statement reads.
“SNAP participants, especially those who face challenges getting to a physical shop,” it continues.
In May 2022, well over 3 million SNAP households made an online purchase, a significant increase from March 2020, when only around 35,000 SNAP households did so, according to the USDA.
The USDA’s quick extension of the experimental e-commerce programme during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic is mostly to blame for the rise.
The goal is to increase the number of stores available to SNAP participants when doing their grocery shopping online.
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According to Cyrus Huncharek, a senior public policy analyst at the National Disability Rights Network, “SNAP online purchasing is particularly important to the communities we serve due to continued fear of contracting COVID-19 in a grocery store, the risk of exposure to other transmissible diseases, accessibility issues both in store and with transportation, and pre-existing burdens on family caregivers.”
