Develop Approach for Promoting Healthier Food Purchases by SNAP Participants

This is a Sources Sought Notice for market research purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). A solicitation is not being issued at this time and this notice shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation, nor does it restrict the Government to a particular acquisition approach. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) intends to issue a procurement for the following research study in 2012 and is seeking statements of capability from potential bidders. FNS is strongly encouraging small businesses with the ability to provide the services outlined in the Objectives statement to present a capability statements. CREATING INCENTIVES FOR HEALTHY CHOICES BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The diets of most Americans fall short of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) and many consume calories in excess of their daily needs, which over time leads to overweight and obesity. About one third of all children and two-thirds of all adults are overweight or obese. Most Americans, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants have very low intakes of whole grains, dark green and orange vegetables, and legumes, and high intakes of saturated fat and discretionary calories from solid fats, and added sugars. SNAP households spend about a quarter of their income on food. Recent data (Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2010 www.bls.gov) shows minor differences between low-income families and families at the high end of the income distribution when it comes to budget shares across broadly defined food categories even though families with higher incomes spend over twice as much. For example, the percentage of annual food expenditures on fruits and vegetables are quite similar (.20 high-income versus .18 low-income). Food purchasing decisions of all Americans, including SNAP participants could use improvement. The American marketplace provides a wide array of food products making it difficult for consumers to process product information and make healthy choices. The recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report "Front of Package Nutrition Systems and Symbols: Promoting Healthier Choices" concluded that existing front-of-package (FOP) rating systems have not changed consumer behavior and suggested shifting away from an information based nutrition rating system that informs consumers about nutrition facts to one that clearly communicates and encourages healthy food purchases. This project will develop a plan for incentivizing healthy choices by SNAP participants based on the assumption that there is an existing FOP or labeling system that can be applied across all categories of food. Incentives could be tailored for increasing purchasing power by allowing households to purchase two units of a healthy choice with the same benefit amount needed to purchase one unit of a less healthy choice. Incentive could also be provided in the form of targeted discounts at the point of purchase to encourage healthy choices. OBJECTIVES: The proposed project will develop an approach for promoting healthier food purchases by SNAP participants in a manner that is consistent with Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The objectives of the proposed project are: 1. To develop a plan for how FOP or shelf labeling systems could applied to identify healthy choices across all food categories (processed, unprocessed, packaged, bulk etc) and could be used as a basis for incentivizing healthy choices for SNAP participants. 2. To provide approaches for incentivizing healthy choices by SNAP participants. The feasibility and the mechanism for implementing each approach including the need for any adjunct interventions must be considered along with its potential for promoting long-term behavior change. The key question to consider is that if there was one or more FOP or shelf labeling system that could be applied across all categories of food, how one would go about implementing it in the food retail environment for incentivizing healthy choices by SNAP participants. The desired outcome of this project is a feasible plan for incentivizing healthy choices by SNAP participants. To meet the project objectives, FNS is seeking firms with the capabilities of providing: - Demonstrated knowledge of how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are administered. - Staff with demonstrated nutrition recommendations and nutrition guidance expertise. - Knowledge of food retailers operations including determinants of sales and weekly promotions. - The resources to achieve the objectives on schedule, including availability of staff with the technical expertise in food marketing, nutrition labeling, consumer behavior and psychology of incentives, behavioral economics, computer modeling, food and nutrition, and health literacy. - A dedicated project director who can deliver high quality work, adhere to a compressed project schedule; keep costs within budget, manage the work of the professionals completing the task. The firm must demonstrate that they have the capabilities to achieve the project objectives. Interested parties should submit a statement of capability outlining their institutional capabilities to complete the project. The statement of capabilities should also include: - Contractor Name - Address - Point of Contact (POC) - POC phone number and email address - DUNS number - Business status (i.e., large/small business, disadvantaged, Hub Zone, woman-owned, etc.) - GSA MOBIS schedule (if your firm has a GSA MOBIS schedule) Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this sources sought synopsis is strictly voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlements to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges to the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses, or the Government's use of such information. The information obtained from responses to this notice may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and future RFP. No questions will be entertained or comment responded to by the government. Offers capable of providing these services should submit the information requested via email to Christina Carter-Kurant (christina.carter-kurant@fns.usda.gov) no later than 2:00 PM, Tuesday, May 8, 2012. Please limit the length of packages to 10 pages. Packages over 10 pages may not be evaluated.