How ending emergency SNAP benefits changed supermarket food purchases
Official title: Impact of the expiration of emergency SNAP benefits on the healthfulness of supermarket food purchases
Funded at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, INC. · NIH-11121100 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at grocery purchases before and after emergency SNAP payments ended to understand how people on SNAP changed what they buy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Canton, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 21, 2023 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $509,076 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NR021137-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11121100 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are U.S. households that currently or recently received SNAP benefits and did grocery shopping at supermarkets during the benefit change.
✕Less likely to help
People who never used SNAP or whose food buying was not affected by the end of emergency allotments are unlikely to receive direct benefit from participating.
What this research studies
From a participant's point of view, researchers will compare household supermarket purchase records from before and after the emergency SNAP allotments ended to see changes in the healthfulness of foods bought. They will combine that large-scale 'natural experiment' with interviews of SNAP households to learn how people made choices when benefits dropped. The team will analyze differences by household traits like rural versus urban location and financial stability and will consider local economic and retail factors. Results will highlight which groups were most affected and why, using both data and real household experiences.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could inform policies or programs to help keep healthy foods affordable for low-income households and reduce diet-related chronic disease.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research shows extra SNAP dollars can improve food security and healthier purchases, but the nationwide end of emergency allotments is a new large-scale policy change that has not been previously studied.
Where this research is happening
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Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, INC.
Canton, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Petimar, Joshua — Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, INC.
- Study coordinator: Petimar, Joshua
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.