A national grocery association has received $5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help smaller, independent grocers participate in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online shopping.

The National Grocers Association Foundation (NGAF) has been granted the money from the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, the agency announced Dec. 21, to "provide guidance and technical expertise to walk retailers through the implementation process so more SNAP participants across the country can purchase food online."

“Small stores are the heartbeat of towns across America," Stacy Dean, deputy undersecretary for the USDA's Food, Nutrition and Customer Services, said in the announcement. "They're often individually owned and operated, create local employment opportunities, and provide essential resources for their community, but they also may not have the same resources that bigger stores have at their fingertips."

Dean said the grant and NGAF partnership will allow "all stores" the ability to offer SNAP online, as well as give SNAP participants the "flexibility to buy groceries from home."

Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia are now able to provide access to online shopping to 99% of all SNAP participants, the report states, with  178 additional retailers joining SNAP online since March 2020. Approximately 4 million SNAP households shopped online last month, according to the USDA.

The agency notes in the report that online shopping is convenient, safe and secure, and increasingly vital for access to nutritional food, "particularly for those who live in rural and other difficult-to-reach areas and those who may be homebound or have limited transportation access."

"USDA is committed to expanding the availability of SNAP online shopping as part of our broader efforts to ensure everyone – regardless of their situation or their location – can have access to the food and nutrition they need to live healthy lives."