The Evaluation of Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Interim Report

The Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) grant program ¹ provided $100 million to fund and evaluate projects that were intended to increase fruit and vegetable purchases among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants by providing incentives at the point of purchase. Grants were awarded in fiscal years (FYs) 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 to state and local governmental entities and nonprofit organizations. An independent evaluation measured the impact of FINI on two primary outcomes, increasing fruit and vegetable (1) expenditures and (2) consumption among SNAP households, and on several secondary outcomes. The pilot projects are not included in the evaluation. This report presents the results of the process evaluation and outcome evaluation through September 2017.

Key Findings

• Except for participants who had previously shopped at a farmers market that offered incentives, awareness of the local incentive program tended to be low.
• Although, FINI increased monthly household fruit and vegetable expenditures by 12 to 16 percent in three of the four study groups, about one-quarter to one-half of SNAP households reported spending less of their own money on fruits and vegetables as a result of the incentive.
• FINI had no measurable impact on SNAP participants’ consumption of fruits and vegetables.

¹In the 2018 Farm Bill, the FINI Grant Program was renamed the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP).