Around the country, many local governments and organizations (including SPUR) run healthy food incentive programs to increase low-income families’ purchasing power for fruits and vegetables. These bonus dollars are often provided through a variety of technologies, including paper coupons and loyalty cards. Recently, three states have begun the process of replicating what Massachusetts pioneered in 2012: providing the bonus dollars directly back onto a customer’s government-issued food assistance card (known as an EBT card). This shift in technology aims to make the program simpler for customers, easier for grocers and more efficient for program administrators. Join our panel discussion to learn about the origin and future of these EBT integration projects in California, Washington and Rhode Island.

• Alyssa Auvinen / Washington State Department of Health
• Kerri Connolly / Rhode Island Public Health Institute
• Mia Kortebein / Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance
• Marga Ortiz / United States Department of Agriculture
• Eli Zigas / SPUR