Cross-Sectional Food Environment Observations Conducted for Small Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Authorized Retailers in Pinellas County, Florida, Suggest Limited Availability and High Cost of Some Healthful Food Items

ABSTRACT

We assessed store-level food availability, quality, variety, depth of stock, and cost at small Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-authorized retailers and compared stocking patterns to proposed United States Department of Agriculture criteria. Food environment observations were conducted at 82 retailers from June to December 2019 in Pinellas County, Florida, and descriptively analyzed. Less than one-third of retailers stocked frozen fruit, fresh or frozen vegetables, tortillas, whole-wheat bread, low-fat milk, fresh or frozen meat, fish or meat alternatives, dried beans, or healthier frozen meals. Twenty-two and 26% had at least seven SNAP-eligible varieties of fruits and vegetables and protein products, respectively.

KEYWORDS:

• Food assistance
• SNAP program
• supermarkets
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Emily Piltch, PhD, MPH for her efforts to adapt the observation tool and coordinate study logistics; Lee Unangst, MS, RD and Constantina Papoutsakis, PhD, RDN for their development work on the ANDHII Surveys App; Margaret Dittloff, MS, RDN for her substantial contributions to the survey build in the ANDHII mobile application; and Lauren Vance, MPH for her assistance with developing the research methods and process, managing survey administration, and writing a detailed summary of the methods and results.

Disclosure Statement

KK is an employee of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (Academy), which has financial interest in the ANDHII Surveys mobile application. EYJ has a contract with Academy. LW is a member of the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 Academy Board of Directors.

Data Availability Statement

Data used in this paper can be requested by emailing [email protected].

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2023.2174061.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy Foundation via a grant from the General Mills Foundation [no grant number] and by the Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger [no grant number].