Southern California Nutrition Incentive Program (SCNIP)

The specific aims of this proposal are to implement SCNIP in 6 Northgate Gonzalez Markets across San Diego, Orange and LA counties (2 in each county), and determine which level of financial incentive rebate (specifically, $10/month, $20/month, or $40/month) optimally increases the purchase and consumption of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Food Insecurity
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Financial Incentive: High; Other: Financial Incentive: Middle; Other: Financial Incentive: Low

Detailed Description

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Center for Community Health, in collaboration with Northgate Gonzalez Markets and its regional partners, will implement a Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties - the Southern California Nutrition Incentive Program (SCNIP). This program will develop, implement and evaluate a multi-tiered model that will enable low-income, SNAP-eligible consumers to make healthier food choices and purchase more fruits and vegetables. This model will include: tier 1) an innovative fruit and vegetable financial incentive rebate program that utilizes the consumer's Northgate Gonzalez Market customer loyalty card, electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card, and electronic wallet (e-wallet); tier 2) fruit and vegetable promotions that include discount pricing; and tier 3) SNAP-Ed programming (e.g., in-store cooking classes, tours, and healthy food self-labeling system) to educate and support the purchasing behaviors of SNAP-eligible families. Through the use of the customer loyalty card, EBT card, and e-wallet, the rebate program will be able to track the purchase of SCNIP eligible fruits and vegetables and provide a rebate at the point-of-sale that can be used to purchase additional fruits and vegetables, thus increasing the purchasing power of SNAP-eligible families for healthy food options. Earned and dispensed rebate dollars will be stored on the e-wallet enabling the tracking of purchasing behaviors and dollars spent on healthy fruits and vegetables in this program. With this data, we will be able to determine what level of financial incentive rebate ($10/month, $20/month, or $40/month) (tier 1) optimally increased SNAP families' per capita spending on fruits and vegetables in conjunction with the fruit and vegetable promotions (tier 2) and nutrition education activities (tier 3).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 3780
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • La Jolla, California, United States, 92093
      • University of California, San Diego

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Northgate Gonzalez Market customer who currently receives SNAP benefits and has a valid EBT card
• 18 years of age or older
• Speaks and reads in English or Spanish
• Shops at the selected Northgate Gonzalez Market regularly, at least two times per month

Exclusion Criteria:

• Does not receive SNAP benefits
• Unable to complete surveys in English or Spanish
• Another immediate family member living in the same household is already recruited into the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: $40/month; Financial incentives: Participants will be randomized to receive $40/month in incentive dollars for the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. Purchasing behaviors will be tracked.	Other: Financial Incentive: High; dlParticipants in this group will receive an additional $40/month to use towards the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. They will be able to access these dollars through an electronic wallet (e-wallet) that is tied to their customer loyalty card. They will also have access to the fruit and vegetable promotions that include discount pricing and SNAP-Ed programming (e.g., in-store cooking classes, tours, and healthy food self-labeling system) to educate and support the purchasing behaviors of SNAP-eligible families.; Other Names: Mas Fresco
Active Comparator: $20/month; Financial Incentives: Participants will be randomized to receive $20/month in incentive dollars for the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. Purchasing behaviors will be tracked.	Other: Financial Incentive: Middle; Participants in this group will receive an additional $20/month to use towards the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. They will be able to access these dollars through an electronic wallet (e-wallet) that is tied to their customer loyalty card. They will also have access to the fruit and vegetable promotions that include discount pricing and SNAP-Ed programming (e.g., in-store cooking classes, tours, and healthy food self-labeling system) to educate and support the purchasing behaviors of SNAP-eligible families.; Other Names: Mas Fresco
Active Comparator: $10/month; Financial Incentives: Participants will be randomized to receive $10/month in incentive dollars for the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. Purchasing behaviors will be tracked.	Other: Financial Incentive: Low; Participants in this group will receive an additional $10/month to use towards the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. They will be able to access these dollars through an electronic wallet (e-wallet) that is tied to their customer loyalty card. They will also have access to the fruit and vegetable promotions that include discount pricing and SNAP-Ed programming (e.g., in-store cooking classes, tours, and healthy food self-labeling system) to educate and support the purchasing behaviors of SNAP-eligible families.; Other Names: Mas Fresco

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dollars spent on Fruits and Vegetables	Total amount of incentive dollars spent on Fruits and Vegetables per month	1 year
Quantity of Fruits and Vegetables	total quantity of fruits and vegetables purchased per month with incentive dollars	1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dietary intake	Change in self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption during the intervention	1 year
Six-item short form of the Food Security Survey Module	Change in food insecurity score at the end of the intervention period	1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Diego
• Collaborators: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); Latino Health Access; California Department of Health Services; The California Endowment; The Ecology Center; Center for Good Food Purchasing; Northgate Gonzalez Markets

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 21, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 24, 2016
• First Posted (Estimated): November 29, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 31, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 30, 2023
• Last Verified: August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Food insecurity; healthy diet; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; fruit and vegetable
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2016-70025-25247

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Data will be shared with USDA on a quarterly basis. Data will include number of participants recruited, amount of incentive dollars used. USDA will determine when this data will be released