It's Discount Week! 🎁 Pick up new Marketplace gear at a discount when you donate today! Get My Gear!

Could a grocery delivery site help get more people signed up for SNAP?

Samantha Fields Nov 27, 2024
Heard on:
HTML EMBED:
COPY
There are lots of reasons people who qualify for SNAP benefits aren’t getting them. But Paco Vélez at Feeding South Florida said lack of awareness is a big one. Craig Hudson/Getty Images

Could a grocery delivery site help get more people signed up for SNAP?

Samantha Fields Nov 27, 2024
Heard on:
There are lots of reasons people who qualify for SNAP benefits aren’t getting them. But Paco Vélez at Feeding South Florida said lack of awareness is a big one. Craig Hudson/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

The grocery delivery site Instacart just launched a new tool to help people find out if they might be eligible for SNAP benefits, and connect them to state resources. More than 42 million people currently get food assistance through SNAP, but there are many more who are eligible and not currently receiving benefits.

This new screening tool on Instacart is very basic. It doesn’t ask for your name — just a few quick questions, like where you live, how many people you live with and roughly how much you make. Then it takes you to your state’s official SNAP application.

“We think that’s fantastic,” said Salaam Bhatti with the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center.

“We’re really hopeful that a lot of other corporations and organizations will also follow suit,” Bhatti said.

There are lots of reasons people who qualify for SNAP benefits aren’t getting them. But Paco Vélez at Feeding South Florida said lack of awareness is a big one.

“Folks not understanding or realizing that this benefit was out there, and that they were potentially eligible,” Vélez said.

Getting information to people on sites they frequent can make a big difference.

And Michelle McRae at Instacart said lots of people on SNAP, or who might qualify, use the site for grocery delivery.

“What we hear from consumers, and especially low income consumers, is that online shopping helps them address time and transportation challenges, and then also enables planning in a way that can help stretch budgets as well,” McRae said.

So, the site could be a good place to reach people.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.