Nutrition Policy Institute researchers conducted an evaluation of the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP), which provides CalFresh (the California division of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participants with dollar-for-dollar incentives for the purchase of California-grown fruits and vegetables (FV). The study explored FV purchases, FV intake, and food security among CalFresh shoppers at farmers markets not participating in CNIP, farmers markets offering $10 and $20 maximum matching incentives, and nearby supermarkets not offering incentives. Their findings indicate that higher CNIP maximum incentive levels are associated with greater odds of participants purchasing fruits and vegetables at farmers markets. While the researchers found no significant difference in overall food security between shoppers at farmers markets offering different maximum incentive levels, each additional incentive dollar received was associated with reduced odds of food insecurity. Although incentives did not lead to a quantitatively measurable change in produce consumption, participants did self-report a perceived increase in produce consumption and were able to purchase a wider variety of FV and support their local communities and growers. Most shoppers reported that CNIP is important in their decision to shop at farmers markets and expressed high levels of satisfaction with CNIP as well as a desire to see the program expand. Findings were published in the journal Nutrients in June 2022. The study was conducted by researchers Wendi Gosliner, Sridharshi Hewawitharana, Ron Strochlic, Celeste Felix, and Caroline Long from the Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It was funded by California Department of Food and Agriculture award number 17-0212-005-SF.

A recent National WIC Association report, Multi-State WIC Participant Satisfaction Survey: Cash Value Benefit Increase During COVID, shows an increase in child fruit and vegetable consumption among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) after the WIC Cash Value Benefit (CVB) for fruits and vegetables was enhanced through the American Rescue Plan Act in summer 2021. The report analyzes over 10,000 responses from WIC participants across 5 State WIC Agencies–Connecticut, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Mexico–in 2021. Researchers found that when the monthly CVB for children was increased from $9 to $35, children's total daily fruit and vegetable intake increased by approximately 1/3 cup. The study also showed that WIC participants prefer a CVB amount higher than $9 and closer to $35 per month to cover the fruit and vegetable needs of their child. The study was conducted by researchers at the UC Nutrition Policy Institute including Lorrene Ritchie, Danielle Lee, and Celeste Felix, in partnership with private consultant Linnea Sallack, Georgia Machell and Christina Chauvenet from the National WIC Association, and Shannon Whaley from Public Health Foundation Enterprise-WIC. The study was funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the From Now On Fund, the National WIC Association, and the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Families with low-income that participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–known as CalFresh in California–receive monthly benefits to spend on food. The California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP), operated by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is a strategy to increase CalFresh participants' intake of fruits and vegetables by making them more affordable with financial incentives for purchasing them at venues such as farmers markets. The COVID-19 pandemic led to major disruptions to the food system, resulting in many challenges for farmers and low-income shoppers. Additional federal funds were provided during the pandemic to increase CNIP incentives to better support farmers and CalFresh shoppers. Wendi Gosliner from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute received funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to evaluate CalFresh farmers market shoppers' experiences of the additional funds for CNIP-type incentives during the pandemic, expanding on her previous CNIP evaluation work. Gosliner will work in partnership NPI researchers Sridharshi Hewawitharana, Celeste Felix and Ron Strochlic, CDFA and the Gretchen Swanson Evaluation Center on the one-year project, which began in January 2022.

Nutrition Policy Institute researchers are partnering with pediatrician and public health researcher Anisha Patel from Stanford University on a new National Institutes of Health-funded study to understand the impact of a childcare-based healthy beverage intervention. The study is titled, “A Multi-Level Intervention to Promote Healthy Beverage Intake through Childcare.” NPI researchers will be responsible for evaluating the intervention's impact on child drinking water intake and dietary intake. The study builds on NPI's previous collaboration with Patel to evaluate a similar intervention in school settings as part of “The Impact of School Water Access on Child Food and Beverage Intake and Obesity” study, also funded by the NIH. The NPI research team includes Lorrene Ritchie, cooperative extension specialist and director of NPI, who will be working with NPI's Christina Hecht, director of NPI's National Drinking Water Alliance, Suzanne Rauzon, Celeste Felix, Nicole Vital and Patricia Wakimoto. The five-year project began in August 2021.