Competitive pricing for healthy foods

Program basics

Incentives, subsidies, or price discounts for healthy foods and beverages and disincentives or price increases for unhealthy or less nutritious foods and beverages
Can be implemented in schools, at work sites, in grocery stores, in cafeterias, in vending machines, and more
Because adults and teenagers have been shown to purchase items that are lower in cost regardless of nutritional value, larger price differences between healthy foods and unhealthy foods are linked to greater improvements in healthy food consumption

Community-wide

Not available

Not available

Increased stocking and sales of healthy foods, including low-fat foods, fruits, vegetables, and water
Increased healthier food consumption
Created lasting behavioral change

Note: This content is under review
Specific approaches should be informed by community engagement processes, which can create a more accurate sense of unique community needs.
Interventions that reduce the costs of healthier food are shown to increase consumption of healthier items across demographics and geographies.
Participant recruitment and retention strategies should be formulated after understanding community priorities, creating a theory of change, and setting goals accordingly.
Partnerships with community groups, schools, employers, and local businesses can strengthen knowledge of incentives and health benefits, supporting positive behavioral change.
Political pushback can take the form of opposition to subsidies, additional taxes on unhealthy foods, and general resistance to new public expenditures.