Perceptions of SNAP and Stocking Standards: A Qualitative Study of California Small Food Store Owners and Managers.

Anthony Meza,Cindy W Leung,June M Tester,Irene H Yen,Barbara A Laraia,Julia A Wolfson

doi:10.3390/nu13030752

Abstract

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is critical to alleviating food insecurity, but low diet quality among program participants is a concern. Nutrition-related interventions have focused on SNAP-authorized food retailers, but the perspectives of small food store owners and managers have not been represented in national policy discussions. This study aimed to explore the opinions of store owners/managers of SNAP-authorized small food stores about their overall perceptions of the program and the stricter stocking standards previously proposed in 2016. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 33 small food store owners and managers in San Francisco and Oakland, California in 2016. Interviews were analyzed for thematic content using the general inductive approach. Four themes emerged from owners/managers’ discussion of their overall perceptions of SNAP: the beneficial impact of SNAP on their business, how SNAP enables them to connect with the broader community, the importance of SNAP in preventing hunger, and the nutrition-related struggles that SNAP participants face. Store owners/managers had a generally favorable response towards the proposed stricter stocking standards. Additional themes discussed pertained to the concern about whether stocking changes would lead SNAP participants to purchase more healthful food and some logistical challenges related to sourcing and storing perishable foods.

Highlights

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food StampProgram, is the largest of the federal nutrition assistance programs, reaching 35.7 million low-income Americans in 2019 [1,2]
The objective of this study was to explore the opinions of store owners and managers of SNAP-authorized small food stores in two large California cities about their overall perceptions of SNAP, and their attitudes towards the stricter stocking standards proposed by USDA in 2016 including any concerns/challenges they would face upon implementation
San Francisco and Oakland store owners and managers discussed the beneficial impact of SNAP on their business, how SNAP is a link between their store and the broader community, the importance of SNAP in preventing hunger, and the nutritionrelated challenges of the participants who shop in their store

Summary

Introduction

Program, is the largest of the federal nutrition assistance programs, reaching 35.7 million low-income Americans in 2019 [1,2]. Efforts to promote better nutrition within SNAP may improve its effects on both food insecurity and dietary intake for the millions of low-income Americans who rely on it. Building on previous efforts to increase the emphasis on nutrition within SNAP [7,8,9], in 2016, USDA proposed that SNAP-authorized retailers be required to stock a greater variety of perishable and non-perishable foods across four staple food groups: (1) fruits and vegetables; (2) dairy; (3) meat, poultry and fish; (4) breads and cereals, and a greater number of each food item [10]. Without empirical data to support this claim, it is difficult to understand the unique challenges that small food stores would face in increasing the availability of healthful food across diverse geographic settings

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