DISCOVERING BARRIERS & BENEFITS OF ACCEPTING SNAP BENEFITS AT UTAH FARMERS’ MARKETS DR. KELSEY HALL & KENNA MCMURRAY

•  Low-income residents use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards to purchase food items at 2,916 farmers’ markets in the United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2015).

•  Using EBT cards creates benefits & barriers to accepting SNAP at farmers’ markets  (Babiak, 2013).

•  Poster compares managers’ perceptions of benefits that encourage & barriers that deter acceptance of SNAP EBT cards at Utah farmers’ markets.

•  Utahns Against Hunger & county nutrition assistance programs use this information in community-based social marketing plan to encourage more farmers’ markets to accept SNAP EBT cards.

INTRODUCTION/NEED FOR RESEARCH

•  Administered survey to 20 managers of farmers’ markets accepting SNAP EBT cards & 20 managers of farmers’ markets not accepting SNAP EBT cards.

•  Researcher-developed online survey included barriers and benefits to accepting SNAP at farmers’ markets.

•  Questionnaires reviewed by panel of experts. •  Used Dillman’s Tailored Design Method to contact farmers’ market managers. •  Reported post-hoc Cronbach’s alpha of .77 for barriers scale & .91 for benefits

scale. •  Compiled results in IBM SPSS Statistics Version 19.

METHODOLOGY

FINDINGS

Study conducted with funding from a 2014 USU Summer Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunity Grant and Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Project UTAO-1112.

•  Costs of an EBT processing machine and staff needed to run the transactions were barriers to accepting SNAP EBT cards by Utah farmers markets, as well as 1,682 markets nationwide, 3 markets in Minneapolis & 8 markets in Wisconsin (Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 2011; Krokowski, 2013,

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2013). •  Suggest managers work with Cooperative Extension Services & county aid offices to keep records & operate EBT card machine. •  Recommend managers apply for USDA Farmers’ Market Promotion Program grants to fund SNAP/EBT card machine & monthly fees.  •  Utah managers accepting SNAP at their farmers’ markets agreed with 1,682 farmers’ market managers that SNAP acceptance supports the

local economy, attract different types of customers, and responds to customer interest  (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2013). •  Future research will report social and economic impact of accepting SNAP benefits at these farmers’ markets.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS

Community-based social marketing (CBSM)

(McKenzie-Mohr & Smith, 2011)

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Table 1 Managers’ Perceptions of Barriers to Accepting SNAP EBT Cards at their Farmers’ Market

Barrier

Farmers’ Markets Accepting SNAP

(n = 11)

Farmers’ Markets Not Accepting SNAP (n = 5)

M SD M SD

Additional bookkeeping 2.27 0.79 1.20 0.45

Extra work to accept SNAP 2.27 1.01 1.40 0.55

Ongoing transaction fee costs

associated with EBT 2.45 0.82 1.20 0.45

Low number of SNAP customers 2.55 1.04 2.40 1.67

Start-up cost 2.64 1.03 3.60 1.95

Knowledge of accepting SNAP 3.00 0.89 2.60 1.52

Staffing for at market operation

of EBT machine 3.09 0.95 2.80 2.05

EBT machine maintenance 3.18 0.87 1.40 0.55

Too many requirements to

become SNAP authorized 3.27 0.79 3.40 1.52

Hard to get information about

program from agencies 3.27 1.10 3.40 1.82

Knowledge of the vendors

accepting SNAP 3.36 0.67 2.60 1.52

Lack of interest from vendors 3.73 0.47 1.80 1.30 Scale: 1 = extreme barrier, 2 = moderate barrier, 3 = somewhat a barrier, 4 = not a barrier.

Table 2 Managers’ Perceptions of Benefits to Accepting SNAP EBT Cards at their Farmers’ Market

Benefit

Farmers’ Markets Accepting SNAP

(n = 11)

Farmers’ Markets Not Accepting SNAP (n = 5)

M SD M SD

Promotes access to healthy

food in the community 4.82 0.41 3.80 1.64

Supports the local economy 4.82 0.41 3.20 1.48

Improves the market’s public

image 4.45 0.52 3.20 1.48

Responds to customer interest 4.00 1.00 2.80 1.48

Increases sales for vendors 3.91 1.04 3.40 1.52

Responds to interest from

other organizations 3.91 1.22 3.80 1.64

Scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.

Step 1 • Select sustainable behavior to promote: Farmers’ markets accept SNAP

benefits, offering low-income residents access to fresh produce.

Step 2 • Identify benefits and barriers to the behavior.

Step 3

• Design strategies that use behavior change tools (social norms, prompts, communication, incentives, & making behavior convenient).

Step 4 • Pilot strategies with a small segment of farmers’ market managers.

Step 5 • Evaluate impact of the pilot after implementation.

NEXT STEPS

Develop CBSM plan to encourage farmers’ market managers not accepting SNAP to begin in 2016 season.  

Pilot test CBSM plan.  Measure impact of CBSM plan by number of managers who accept SNAP in 2016.  

                                               •  EBT card machines use electricity & telephone service. • 1 farmers’ market not accepting SNAP EBT cards (20%) has electrical hookups. • No farmers’ markets not accepting SNAP EBT cards have telephone hookup or strong cellular signal to use wireless EBT card machine.

•  Additional bookkeeping was a moderate barrier for farmers’ markets accepting SNAP & an extreme barrier for markets not accepting SNAP (see Table 1).

•  Reasons Utah farmers’ markets did not accept SNAP EBT cards: (1) small-sized market, (2) no business bank account, (3) lack of revenue gained from accepting SNAP benefits, (4) lack time to learn how to use EBT card machine, & (5) lack of vendor interest.

•  Managers of farmers’ markets not accepting SNAP EBT cards did not think customers were interested (M = 2.80, SD = 1.48) (see Table 2).