CHICAGO -- New requirements will take effect soon for retailers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The new rules, announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in December, changed several eligibilty requirements for retailers, including stocking obligations. They are intended to give SNAP recipients better access to healthy food.
The initial rule proposal released in February 2016 drew criticism from NACS, but the association said the final rule “makes some changes that were necessary to ensure people could get the food they need,” though it “still has some provisions that may be onerous for convenience-store owners to implement and could risk hurting SNAP beneficiaries.”
The USDA is also planning a new application for SNAP retailers, parts of which have also brought about pushback from NACS.
Here’s a breakdown of the key changes to SNAP and how they affect c-stores ...
Under the new rules, retailers need to stock 84 items of inventory to be eligible for SNAP, up from 12. The 84 items must include seven varieties in each of the four staple food categories, with three units of each variety, for a total of 21 items per category.
The four staple food categories are vegetables or fruits; dairy products; meat, poultry or fish; and bread or cereals.
Multiple-ingredient foods, such as a frozen bean and cheese burrito, will be considered staples under the final rule, a change from the initial proposal that said multiple-ingredient foods would not count toward stocking requirements.
Also under the new requirements, the accessory food category was expanded to include snacks and desserts, such as potato chips and ice cream. Those items don’t count toward the required 84 staple items. However, some healthy grab-and-go items, such as hummus and packs of nuts or seeds, do count as staples, a change from the initial proposal.
The effective date for these changes is Jan. 17, 2018, for current SNAP participants and May 17, 2017, for new applicants.
Under the new rules, retailers would be ineligible for SNAP if 50% or more of the store’s gross retail sales (including fuel sales) come from prepared foods cooked or heated on-site. NACS said this was a “significant improvement” from the proposal, which set the threshold at 15% of a store’s total food sales.
In addition to the changes to eligibility requirements, the USDA is developing a new application for SNAP retailers, and in February it requested feedback on the proposed updates. Some of the new questions drew criticism from NACS.
The association took issue with a question that asks retailers to provide the name and address of the financial institution where they deposit SNAP benefits.
“This store-specific financial information is unnecessary and could subject retailers to potential harm if the information is hacked or made available under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),” NACS said in a statement.
NACS also expressed concern over questions about whether retailers offer discounts or incentives to SNAP recipients, saying the information could potentially put stores at a competitive disadvantage.
“If the purpose of SNAP is alleviating hunger and ensuring low-income Americans have access to food, the agency should be focusing its energy on acquiring information strictly related to whether a retailer meets the requirements to participate in the program,” NACS said in its letter to the USDA. “It should not be making it harder for retailers to apply to participate by making the application process any more difficult or time-consuming than it needs to be.”
For more information about the USDA's new SNAP requirements, click here.
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