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Healthy Incentives Pilot Final Evaluation Report

Susan Bartlett, Jacob Klerman, Lauren Olsho, Christopher Logan, Michelle Blocklin, Marianne Beauregard, Ayesha Enver, Abt Global; Parke Wilde, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University; Cheryl Owens, Margaret Melhem, MAXIMUS

Report

October 16, 2014
The Healthy Incentives Pilot (HIP) tested a way of making fruits and vegetables more affordable for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assis­tance Program (SNAP). Under HIP, SNAP partici­pants received a financial incentive for purchasing fruits and vegetables. The HIP evaluation used a random assignment research design.

Specifically, 7,500 SNAP households in Hampden County, Mass. were randomly selected to partic­ipate in HIP, while the remaining 47,595 households continued to receive SNAP benefits as usual.

The final evaluation report – prepared by Abt Global and its partners for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service – found that HIP increased fruit and vegetable consumption of pilot participants; most retailers reported that HIP purchases were easy to process; and that some evidence indicated that program impacts were larger for households who had more posi­tive attitudes about fruits and vegetables before HIP, among other findings.

Visit the USDA web page for the report appendices and summary.
Regions
North America