For underprivileged families to meet their nutritional needs, the SNAP program is a blessing, through which they can buy food essentials from leading supermarkets.
Focusing on healthy and organic foods, Sprouts Farmers Market is one of the best supermarket chains in the US, offering fresh produce, dairy products, frozen foods, seafood, meat, and various other natural products.
What’s even better is that EBT reliant families can buy Sprouts’ top-quality natural products using their SNAP benefits. Yes, Sprout does take EBT, opening new avenues for low-income families to put the healthiest food on their tables. However, not everything in the supermarket is EBT-eligible.
Another thing to note is that Sprouts does not accept EBT payment for online orders, despite their partnership with Instacart.
In this article, I will discuss how you can use EBT in Sprouts and everything you can buy with it.
What You Can And Can’t Buy With EBT From Sprouts
Now that you know that you can use EBT payment for in-store purchases in Sprouts, it is essential to understand what things are EBT-eligible.
What are EBT-eligible items?
I will use the term EBT-eligible numerous times; thus, it is prudent to know what it means.
According to USDA regulations, there are certain items that you can buy with your SNAP benefits through your EBT card.
These items include vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, poultry, cereal, bread, non-alcoholic drinks, snack foods, dairy products, seeds, and plants that can be used to grow food for families.
These food items are EBT-eligible, which means you can buy all this from Sprouts.
To make things easy, you should look for a nutrition label. If the food item has one, you can buy it with your EBT card.
In case you are still confused, you can ask a store employee to help you.
Just as there are EBT-eligible items, there are certain products you can not buy with your EBT card. For example, you cannot purchase alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, or tobacco with your EBT card.
Moreover, food that is sold hot, like Sprouts’ famous rotisserie chicken, is also prohibited. Live animals, pet foods, cosmetics, cleaning, and household supplies are exempt.
However, if you also receive cash benefits in your EBT and your SNAP benefits, you can withdraw cash to buy items that you may not be able to with just your SNAP benefits.
Depending on the store, you may get cashback above the amount used in the transaction. If you are using cash and SNAP benefits, you will have to make a dual transaction for each.
In case you only receive SNAP benefits, any supplies not covered under the SNAP umbrella will have to be paid for separately.
Does Sprouts Allow Using EBT For Online Orders?
Even though you can shop online on Sprouts for delivery and pickup through Instacart, it does not accept online EBT payment yet.
While other stores like Aldi and Publix allow you EBT payment for delivery and pickup through Instacart, Sprouts has not yet made the list of the retailers that Instacart extends this offer to, unfortunately.
If you want to use your EBT card at Sprouts, you will have to do it in-store.
Does Sprouts Take WIC?
WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) is a federal supplemental program that is extended to fulfill the nutritional needs of pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding women, as well as infants and children until they reach the age of five.
If you are eligible for WIC, you might be wondering if you can use your eWIC card at Sprouts.
Unfortunately, Sprouts does not accept WIC payment as they are not approved providers as per the government regulations.
What To Do If You Do Not Have Enough Balance in Your EBT Card?
Now that you know Sprouts accepts EBT SNAP payment, what happens if you run out of SNAP benefits in your card.
The first tip to avoid this mishap is to make sure that you always keep your receipts safe.
The receipt carries your card balance, which can help you shop accordingly without fearing that you might not have enough SNAP benefits to cover the purchase.
Moreover, if you run out of SNAP benefits in your EBT card, you can use another form of payment like cash, debit, or credit card to pay for the remaining money.
For example, if your total is $45 and you have $35 in your ETB account, you can make two transactions.
The first transaction can be made with your EBT card for $35 (only for SNAP-eligible food items), and then the second transaction can be made for $10 with cash or any other payment source.
How To Check Your EBT Card Balance?
We have discussed that the easiest way to keep your EBT balance in check is by saving receipts when you shop, so you know precisely how much balance is in your card. However, there are other ways you can find out the funds left on your EBT card.
If you don’t have receipts from your previous food shopping, you can call the customer service number or the toll-free number at the back of your card to find out your remaining balance.
Moreover, you can also contact your state’s website for assistance in this matter. Some status gives access to information about SNAP accounts online, which allows you to sign in and check your balance.
Conclusion
Sprouts Farmers Market boasts of a wide variety of healthy and organic food options, as well as top-quality produce. And yes, it does accept EBT payment. Therefore, you have the ease to buy EBT SNAP-eligible food items from Sprouts.
However, unlike Publix and Aldi, Sprouts’ delivery and pickup service through Instacart does not offer payment facilities to EBT reliant families.
To buy food items on your EBT card at Sprouts, you will have to make the trip to their stores. Another thing to note is that you cannot make WIC payments at Sprouts.
Despite the few hiccups, using the EBT card at Sprouts physical store location is still a massive boost for low-income families looking for good quality food.
I hope you found this article helpful, and I was able to answer all your questions about shopping at Sprouts with an EBT card.