Data Collection Methods:

SNAP ELIGIBLE GOODS

Counting the number of SNAP eligible goods is a straightforward process with many interested audiences. Promoting SNAP eligible goods in a marketing campaign is a great way to encourage SNAP shoppers that usually shop at groceries to try the market. Local and state government agencies can tout these numbers as part of a campaign against food deserts.

Prepare your vendors by letting them know about the count ahead of time; this gives the vendor the ability to be accommodating to the count and removes any uncertainty or possibility of confrontation during market hours.

Counting SNAP eligible goods is a simple manual process done at the market. Simply download the template to the right and bring it to market, either in paper form on on a tablet.

Starting at one end of the market, visit the first vendor’s booth or table.

  • If a vendor offers at least one type of SNAP-eligible product, they should be counted as a “Vendor Offering SNAP-Eligible Goods.” Mark a tally for each of these vendors in row 15.
  • For every product type available, mark a tally in that product’s row, under “Data Collection Day 1”.  Once you have marked a tally for every product offered for sale by the first vendor, move on to the next vendor’s booth, and repeat.
  • The Checklist also has a place to make note of the total number of vendors present, in row 14. To find this number, count as you go, or refer to market day attendance records.

If you complete the tally on paper, totals should be transferred into the SNAP Eligible Checklist in Excel, where calculations will automatically be completed.  Once these numbers are entered into the Checklist in Excel, the workbook will calculate the:

  • Average number of vendors offering SNAP eligible products per market day;
  • Average number of SNAP eligible products per market day;
  • Total number of fruit and vegetable types offered for sale; and
  • Percentage of Vendors Offering SNAP-Eligible Goods Per Market Day.

These metrics can then be entered into the “SNAP Eligible Goods” section of FM Metrics. This information will populate the “Number of SNAP Eligible Goods” metric in the Market Report.

Remind the collectors that for the purpose of SNAP goods, a tomato is a tomato is a tomato. If a vendor has six varieties of tomato at their stand, you should only put one check mark next to tomatoes on their list for that vendor.
Download