SNAP has two major goals: to reduce food insecurity—uncertain access to enough food for active, healthy living due to lack of money or other resources—and to support nutritious diets among low-income households. Recent research suggests that SNAP has done well at meeting the first goal, but USDA researchers wanted to learn about the effect of SNAP on diet quality. They were particularly interested in whether a change in diet could be causally linked to SNAP participation, as opposed to pre-existing dietary differences that are associated with SNAP participants. The results of their analysis were mixed. While some signs point to an increase in whole fruit consumption by SNAP participants, that increase may be offset by a decrease in dark green and orange vegetable consumption. At the same time, the total difference in diets after accounting for the effects of SNAP shows that, as a whole, SNAP participants had slightly lower diet quality than eligible nonparticipants, although they fared better when it came to sodium and saturated fat consumption. Overall, the research finds that the effects of SNAP participation on diet quality are modest—a small positive effect is counterbalanced by a small negative effect.
Source: USDA, 11/18/13, SNAP Diets
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