{"id":365,"date":"2014-07-19T20:48:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-19T20:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/parking-a-link-usda-report-on-promoting-healthy-eating-for-food-stamp-recipients-now-with-summary-and-analysis.html"},"modified":"2014-07-19T20:48:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-19T20:48:00","slug":"parking-a-link-usda-report-on-promoting-healthy-eating-for-food-stamp-recipients-now-with-summary-and-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/parking-a-link-usda-report-on-promoting-healthy-eating-for-food-stamp-recipients-now-with-summary-and-analysis.html","title":{"rendered":"Parking a link: USDA report on promoting healthy eating for food stamp recipients (now with summary and analysis)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I do want to comment on this report<\/a>\u00a0later but wanted to save the link, as the original article<\/a>, originally from Drudge, seemed to tell a story of a thoroughly preposterous set of ideas. \u00a0So read for yourself, and come back tomorrow for commentary!<\/p>\n

UPDATE: <\/p>\n

Sunday night. \u00a0I\u2019m watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 with the boys and taking notes on the report, \u201cApproaches for Promoting Healthy Food Purchases by SNAP Participants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are my excerpts, notes, and comments.<\/p>\n

Most Americans, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, do not purchase enough whole grains, dark green and orange vegetables, and legumes, and purchase too many items with excess calories from fats and added sugars.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many products in grocery stores and other food retail environments carry front of package (FOP) and shelf labels that communicate health claims and nutrition information to consumers.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How can nutrition labeling systems be used to direct, encourage, or incentivize healthier food choices by SNAP participants in retail food settings? As such, the research project had three main objectives: (1) to develop a plan for how FOP and shelf-labeling systems could be applied to identify healthy choices across all food categories (packaged, bulk, frozen, fresh) and could be used as a basis for incentivizing healthy choices for SNAP participants, (2) to develop theory-based approaches that leverage FOP and shelf-labeling systems to promote healthier food purchases by SNAP participants in a manner that is consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), and (3) to identify two approaches that warranted further exploration, describing a step-wise study design for implementing and testing the impact of each approach through a future pilot study.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Various retailers currently have shelf-labelling systems to identify healthy foods, and foods themselves have \u201cFOP\u201d = \u201cfront of package\u201d labels. \u00a0The FDA\/USDA could create its own standardized system for general implementation, then based on these ratings, deem specific products as \u201chealthy\u201d \u2013 for instance, those which hit 75 out of a 100 point scale.<\/p>\n

Coupons and other incentive programs to be offered . . . \u00a0in order to ensure the program succeeds, the cashiers and other store employees will need training, to direct customers to healthier items.<\/p>\n

Store staff would ideally need to know how to respond to a customer who asked why one can of carrots was rated higher than another and which item was coupon eligible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Proposed approaches<\/b>:<\/p>\n

EBT rebate<\/i>: \u00a0extra money loaded onto the food stamp card for buying healthier food.<\/p>\n

This incentive would be offered at two levels that reflect different price elasticities for different \u00a0categories of food. The findings from HIP support the provision of a 30% rebate on fruits and \u00a0vegetables (Bartlett et al., 2013). In this approach, the 30% rebate would be offered for these \u00a0food categories. A secondary, lesser rebate amount would be established for all other food \u00a0categories based on combined price elasticities and the identification of a health objective by \u00a0USDA (a similar process was used to determine the incentive amounts for HIP). The total dollar \u00a0amount for both the tier 1 and tier 2 rebates would be capped at $60 per household per month.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a02-for-1 promotions<\/i>: \u00a0coupons for buy one get one free, e.g., \u201cbuy one piece of fruit, get one free,\u201d or the like.<\/p>\n

The theory of \u201cmental accounting\u201d suggests that coupon-like financial incentives may be more effective at influencing the total diet because, if funds are earmarked for a certain purpose, recipients tend to spend within that category until funds are entirely depleted. Recipients spend within mental categories associated with designations such as \u201cfruits\u201d or \u201cdrinks.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These coupons would be provided by the retailers, not by the government. <\/p>\n

To implement this approach, retailers would provide a limited number of coupons per month \u00a0(approximately 5\u201310) for items across all food categories, based on their internally planned \u00a0promotion cycles and understanding of their consumer base. To support the development of \u00a0offers that cover all food categories, retailers would be asked to develop at least one offer for each of the major food groups (e.g., protein, dairy, fruits, vegetables, grains) per month. Retailers would \u00a0be encouraged to offer a mix of fresh and frozen items in these selections as well. Once the targeted items for the 2-for-1 offer have been identified, retailers would develop the coupons for inclusion in a monthly circular that would be distributed only to SNAP consumers. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition to the mailing, there would also be online tools. \u00a0And so as to not have an overwhelming number of coupons (since the coupons would be store-specific) the system would track where individual recipients actually shop and send out coupons only for those stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cMyCart\u201d grocery divider:\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

The grocery cart would be divided into specific sections, to encourage shoppers to fill the \u201chealthy\u201d section of their cart with proportions reflecting the \u201cMyPlate\u201d proportions, and a remaining section for non-foodstuffs (e.g., paper towels). \u00a0There wouldn\u2019t necessarily be a specific financial benefit, though, just a notification: \u00a0\u201ccongratulations, your purchases are healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As with the other incentives, there would also be \u201conline tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Live Better Reward Card<\/i><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not actually sure what the difference between this and the rebate card described previously. \u00a0The general concept: \u00a0buy healthy food, get benefits \u2014 in this case, reward points rather than a rebate.<\/p>\n

The two \u201cwinning\u201d approaches:<\/p>\n

Discount coupons<\/i>: \u00a0manufacturers would provide coupons directly to food stamp recipients specifically for healthy items. <\/p>\n

One option would be to use MyPlate as guidance, requiring offers to include at least one item in each of five food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, lean protein) per month. If the manufacturer\u2019s portfolio did not cover the full range of food groups, the manufacturer would be asked to develop an offer that covers as many of the food groups as are represented. Additional guidelines could include requirements for at least one fresh and one frozen food coupon offer per month to further diversify the coupon package, with waivers for those manufacturers that have only frozen or fresh items in their portfolios. In cases where a manufacturer carries only one food group, the manufacturer would be asked to develop a coupon for fresh, frozen, dried, or canned items offered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Targeted Merchandis<\/i>ing and Concurrent Promotions<\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This approach just means that retailers should promote healthy items, give them prominence in shelving with the most valuable \u201creal estate\u201d given over to the healthiest items. \u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The report then describes some pilot projects. \u00a0I skimmed through this part \u2014 because the move ended.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bottom line:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
To be honest \u2014 it\u2019s fun to make fun of this sort of report, but: \u00a0even trying to take it seriously, it just reads as something put together by a group of scholars\/think-tankers\/bureaucrats who don\u2019t give much thought to the real world of grocery shopping.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the first place, there is no simple answer to \u201chealthy grocery shopping.\u201d \u00a0Sure, it\u2019s pretty clear that it\u2019s better to buy fruit than candy. \u00a0But how do you go from defining better purchases within a category (Corn Chex vs. Apple Jacks) to an overall FDA-determined set of proportions for food types: \u00a0grains vs. protein vs. vegetables? \u00a0And it\u2019s striking that the easiest possibility \u2014 taking candy bars out of the range of foods that food stamps cover \u2014 isn\u2019t even considered. \u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/i><\/div>\n
So: \u00a0an incentive program, with rebates? \u00a0This makes the most sense of the approaches, in my opinion, assuming that individual retailers computer systems can be programmed to \u201ctalk to\u201d the food stamp account without too great a burden on the small retailer \u2014 except, of course, that the base-level allocation of food stamps would have to be reduced or the overall spending would increase, because pretty much everyone buys at least some fruit or veggies, especially if you consider fresh, frozen, and canned items \u2014 and if you exclude frozen or canned items, well, then you\u2019re dealing with a further set of issues as frozen and canned food processors gear up for lobbying.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The MyCart is the goofiest one of these. \u00a0Do these people not understand how grocery-shopping works?\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And the manufacturer\u2019s coupons idea: \u00a0I suppose that the idea is that Kellogg\u2019s provides coupons for their healthy cereals rather than Apple Jacks, but your typical food stamp shopper would be buying the private label alternative anyway \u2014 and I doubt that the manufacturer is going to have coupons at a deep enough discount to provide a better alternative.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
So that\u2019s your Flaky Government Report for the Day.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I do want to comment on this report\u00a0later but wanted to save the link, as the original article, originally from Drudge, seemed to tell a story of a thoroughly preposterous set of ideas. \u00a0So read for yourself, and come back tomorrow for commentary! UPDATE: Sunday night. \u00a0I\u2019m watching Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nParking a link: USDA report on promoting healthy eating for food stamp recipients (now with summary and analysis)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I do want to comment on this report later but wanted to save the link, as the original article, originally from Drudge, seemed to tell a story of a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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