SNAP/EBT dependent families in the Second Ward can now access their benefits online thanks to a new service launched by Little Red Box Grocery (LRB), a community market located in East End Houston. The new feature also allows SNAP recipients to double every dollar spent on fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables when using the Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program with in-store purchases.

LRB is now one of five independent grocery stores in Texas to offer online access for SNAP/EBT purchases. “I believe implementing solutions like SNAP/EBT online and Double Up Food Bucks will lower barriers in terms of grocery shopping convenience and contribute to improving the health outcomes of Second Ward residents,” says Sam Newman, LRB owner.

Rapidly densifying cities, like Houston, mean more corner stores with unhealthy product assortment and less traditional grocery stores with fresh food. Newman adds, “Often, our customers are just coming in for one or two essential items - a loaf of bread, milk, or some vegetables, and if we weren’t here, they tell us they’d need to take two buses to get to a store, or they’d just go without.”

“With 14% of Texas households considered “food insecure,” (CBPP), it's never been more important to have community markets such as LRB. Our mission at the Sustainable Food Center is to transform the food system to nourish our health, land, and livelihood. By partnering with LRB, we're able to increase the purchasing power of families on SNAP and expand access to fresh, nutritious food,” says the food access director at Texas’ Sustainable Food Center, Hannah Thornton.

These two programs come as a result of LRB’s emphasis on partnership; where they have teamed up with Grocerist (a grocery-specific e-commerce solution), Forage (a government benefits payment processor), and the Sustainable Food Center (a non-profit organization aiming to transform Texas’ food systems)