The Food, Nutrition and Conservation Act of 2008 (also known as the Farm Bill) authorized funds to pilot test and rigorously evaluate the impact of financial incentives at the point-of-sale for the purchase of fruits, vegetables or other healthful foods on the diet quality of participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program FNS refers to this effort as the Healthy Incentives Pilot or HIP. HIP operated for 14 months in Hampden County, MA.
The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is managing a small-grants research program, funded by FNS. Through a competitive process, UCLA awarded seven grants in June 2012.
SEBTC demonstration offered a rigorous test of the impact of providing a monthly benefit of $60 per child - using existing electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems - on food insecurity among children during the summer when school meals are not available.
The Healthy Incentive Pilot (HIP) is being evaluated using a rigorous research design. The overall goal of the evaluation is to assess the impact of HIP on participants’ intake of fruits and vegetables.
Summer 2011 SFSP Home Delivery and Food Backpacks Demonstration Projects Request for Applications and Questions and Answers
The Early Implementation Report addresses the processes involved in implementing and operating HIP, focusing on the early implementation period, from pilot inception to March 2012.
The report describes the project goals and strategies, provides a general description of each grantee, and gives a synopsis of project performance.