Buried amid the 900-plus pages of the new federal farm bill is a provision that would allow low-income families to double their food stamp benefits if they buy fresh fruits and vegetables at local farmers markets.
According to a recent story in The Washington Post, the program will be called Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive and is designed to encourage people to buy nutritious foods with their SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) and address the obesity problem.
“This program helps families buy healthy food from their local farmers markets, which also helps family farmers and boosts the economy,” said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee, who was instrumental in introducing the plan.
When contacted Monday, organizers of the local Cotton Mill Farmers Market in Carrollton said they’re not familiar with the details of the planned federal program, but they began offering similar incentives last year through private donations.
“The challenge with taking SNAP benefits (often called “food stamps”) for the farmers market is we’re out in the middle of a parking lot with no electricity,” said Wendy Crager of Crager Hager Farm and one of the Cotton Mill founders. “You have to use cell phone service, have a special machine and pay for the transaction fees. Individual farmers can’t possibly take SNAP on their own.”
However, Crager said Cotton Mill was recently able to get government assistance, which paid for the equipment.
“A person with a SNAP card can go to our hospitality tent, tell how much they plan to spend at the market and swipe their card,” she said.
She said providing this service made it more convenient for SNAP recipients, but natural and organically grown foods are more expensive, so card holders still tended to buy fast food or from grocery stores with their cards.
However, the Alice H. Richards Foundation came forward with a dollar-for-dollar match for SNAP recipients so they can get twice as much for their money.
“With only $20 deducted from the card, a person could receive $40 in food,” Crager said. “Then it became more enticing for people on food stamps to shop at the farmers market, since we were doubling the value of their food stamps.”
via Farm Bill includes incentives to shop at farmers markets – Times-Georgian: Local News.
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