Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

We use the USDA’s National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey to assess the degree that food acquisition costs drive SNAP month expenditure patterns. We find that households who claim that their primary food acquisition stores are "close" have smoother shopping patterns than those who do not. We also find that, on average, households' primary stores are located further away than their nearest supermarkets and provide a cost savings for a similar basket of goods. Hence, there is evidence that SNAP cycle shopping patters are driven, in part, by food acquisition costs and that policy that splits SNAP benefits into smaller and more frequent payments could hurt households that face higher food acquisition costs.