Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Examining the Evidence to Define Benefit Adequacy (2013) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction and Conceptual Framework
1 Introduction and Conceptual Framework
Pages 13-26
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Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers a number of nutrition assistance programs with the goal of improving access to healthy foods for low-income individuals and households; USDA also promotes healthy eating through nutrition education programs designed to reach low-income populations and program participants.
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SNAP allotments are based on the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) , a minimalcost model food plan for a healthy diet that is based on the cost of purchasing foods consumed by individuals in four age-gender groups: a male and female aged 19-50, a child aged 6-8, and a child aged 9-11.
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To alleviate such hunger and malnutrition, a supplemental nutrition assistance program is herein authorized which will permit low-income households to obtain a more nutritious diet through normal channels of trade by increasing food purchasing power for all eligible households who apply for participation." ing food prices, fuel and shelter costs, and employment and income volatility all have affected the food purchasing power of the allotment. Several nutrition assistance programs are available to qualifying lowincome households, including the four largest (SNAP; the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC]
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Factors such as time needed to prepare foods from basic ingredients as described in the TFP, knowledge and skills needed to plan and prepare a healthy diet, the diversity of cultural food preferences, food access constraints, and regional/seasonal price fluctuations all may have an impact on the adequacy of the allotments to improve food security and access to a healthy diet. Accordingly, USDA-FNS asked the Institute of Medicine to conduct a study examining the feasibility of defining the adequacy of SNAP allotments, specifically: • the feasibility of establishing an objective, evidence-based, science driven definition of the adequacy of SNAP allotments consistent with the program goals of improving food security and access to a healthy diet, as well as other relevant dimensions of adequacy; and • data and analyses needed to support an evidence-based assessment of the adequacy of SNAP allotments.
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The framework also identifies how SNAP program characteristics affect this process. The committee used this framework to identify the types of factors that may affect whether the SNAP goals of improving food security and access to a healthy diet are met in order to help determine the feasibility of defining allotment adequacy.
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For the program goal of improving food security, the committee used USDA's widely accepted definition of food security: Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum: (1)
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Key among these factors are characteristics of the household and its individual members, including taste preferences, cultural influences, and special dietary needs, which may influence the types of foods obtained, as well as environmental factors, such as the household's physical access to food and prices that may affect access. All of these factors ultimately influence the actual purchasing and consumption patterns of the household, which in turn affect whether members of the household meet the program goals, as illustrated in Figure 1-1.
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Other individual/household factors that may influence or constrain household food choices include food and nutrition knowledge, food preparation skills and the space and equipment needed to prepare foods from basic ingredients, food budgeting abilities, and special needs for certain age groups and for the management of disease (e.g., nutrient deficiencies, infectious and chronic diseases)
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Addition of the influence of the SNAP program characteristics to the process depicted in Figure 1-1 completes the framework for this study, as illustrated by Figure 1-2. SNAP Benefit Formula The most fundamental way in which the SNAP program intervenes in the process described above is by aiming to enhance the resources available for obtaining foods through SNAP benefits.
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. Dashed lines represent the influence of SNAP program characteristics on this process.
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Other SNAP Program Characteristics Aside from the SNAP benefit formula, other characteristics of the program may affect households' food purchasing and consumption behavior. There are program components that affect or at least have the ability to affect each aspect of the conceptual framework that ultimately influences achievement of the program goals, as described below.
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Despite the framework's limitations in capturing subtleties in how households make decisions about what foods to purchase and consume, the committee believes it provides an adequate overview of this process. This overview serves as a useful way to understand the factors that affect food security and access to a healthy diet, how SNAP allotments affect household choices, and how the allotments may or may not be adequate for allowing participants to achieve the program goals.
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2012. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program par ticipation and costs.
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