USDA expands access to online shopping in SNAP
Nearly a dozen retailers are currently going through the approval and testing process for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Online Purchasing Pilot.
The agency said in a news release that it is also investing in the future of online ordering in its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The USDA said it has awarded the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, based in Omaha, Nebraska, $2.5 million to develop and test a safe and secure model for online ordering in WIC.
“Online ordering is – and will continue to be – an important tool for increasing food access in communities across America,” Brandon Lipps, deputy under secretary of USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, said in the release. “USDA is working quickly to provide more SNAP participants with the opportunity to shop for food in the same way many Americans do – online. And now we have set our sights on bringing similar innovation to WIC, continuing our commitment to best serve those who rely on our programs.”
The release said smaller, independent grocery stores that are in the process of joining the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot are:
- Piggly Wiggly, Ala.;
- Woods Supermarket, Mo.;
- Supermercados El Guero, Ill.;
- Skogen’s Festival Foods, Wis.;
- New Pioneer Food Co-Op, Ia.;
- Reasors, Okla.;
- The Cameron Market, Mo;
- Superlo Foods, Tenn.
- Sliced Bread Market, Mo.’
- H-E-B, Texas;
- Sweet Springs Market, Mo.;
- ALDI, Ga.;
- Brookshire’s Food and Pharmacy, Texas;
- St. Marys Galaxy, W.Va.
- Super 1 Foods, Texas;
- FRESH by Brookshire’s, Texas;
- Safeway, Wash.; and
- Spring Markets, Texas.
USDA has expanded SNAP online purchasing to 47 states, including the Washington, D.C., according to the release. In September this year, the release said more than 1 million SNAP households shopped online.
