ABSTRACT
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment has increased dramatically during the COVID19 economic crisis. Currently, one in three households with children experiences food insecurity, the greatest prevalence in modern times.1 SNAP effectively reduces poverty and improves food insecurity,2 and the current recession has increased many US households' reliance on federal nutrition programs. These new developments have intensified ongoing public debate about the most effective program designs for promoting food security and dietary quality.SNAP fruit and vegetable (FV) incentives aim to improve diet quality for participants by providing matching funds for FVs purchased with electronic benefit transfer (EBT). SNAP incentives encourage healthy eating behaviors by subsidizing FV purchase and consumption. FV incentives have been piloted nationwide, providing important evidence than can inform optimal program design. However, incentives are not uniformly available to all SNAP participants, and there are currently insufficient federal resources appropriated to expand incentives nationwide. We review the scientific evidence base for FV incentives and their correlation with healthy eating behaviors, highlight potential challenges for scaling FV incentive programs, and explain the public health opportunity associated with nationwide expansion of evidencebased FV incentives.