How Does SNAP Affect Diet Quality? Evidence from FoodAPS

Underlying mechanisms of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) impact on diet quality are poorly understood. Based on data from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS), we find that SNAP does not significantly improve diet quality. Two hypotheses are developed to test how SNAP affects diet quality. We find no evidence for the mental accounting effect that participants treat SNAP benefits as healthy food money. However, the analysis validates the existence of a diet quality cycle in the sense that participants’ awareness of eating healthy declines throughout a SNAP benefit month.cycle