Thrive Market and SNAP Benefits: Making Healthy Eating Accessible to All

Online shopping for healthy and organic products just got easier for low-income families in the United States.

Starting next week, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients can use their benefits to buy groceries from Thrive Market, an online market aimed at making healthy and sustainable living affordable to everyone.

For nearly a decade, Thrive Market has been working with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and after a successful pilot program in New York in 2017, online purchasing was expanded to all 50 states in 2020.

According to a recent press release, Thrive Market is excited to accept SNAP benefits and says this move will increase access to healthy and nutritious foods for America's most vulnerable people.

Despite the convenience of having groceries delivered to their doorstep, SNAP beneficiaries are reminded that delivery costs cannot be paid for using their benefits.

But this groundbreaking move is welcomed by millions of individuals who have internet access, including those who live at or below poverty line, making healthy groceries accessible to many who need it most.

According to a recent report by the USDA, nearly 3.7 million households used SNAP benefits to purchase groceries online in April 2023, up from 35,000 households in March 2020.

Thrive Market's CEO, Nick Green, believes that this decision by the USDA will redefine how Americans can access healthy options irrespective of their geography, and with deliveries directly to their door, Thrive Market is breaking barriers for society's most vulnerable.