Should Food Stamps be Taken at Farmer's Markets?

Farmer's MarketI read Barbara Erhernreich’s “Nickel and Dimed” a few years ago. While it was not earth-shattering or all that surprising for me to learn that those who live under the poverty line eat unhealthy food on a daily basis, I had never before thoroughly considered the dilemma of how those with less money could eat healthier food.

I recently wrote about Wal-Mart’s new program at some of their stores, which allows Wal-Mart to sell organic food by encouraging local farmers to truck their goods to Wal-Mart. While that may be one solution to help those needing healthier food options at an affordable price, there is another more palatable option that may become available in more places.

I just read an article today in The Atlantic offering a completely different solution to the problem: the author started a foundation based on the premise that Food stamps (which are known as SNAP benefits) should be taken by local farmer’s markets.  As the average person on food stamps gets just $3 a day, there aren’t many healthy food options available for them. If food stamps were taken at local farmer’s markets, more low-income people have access to local, freshly-grown produce instead of just generic pre-processed foods such as Macaroni & Cheese or Top Ramen.

Through the use of incentives to redeem the coupons at farmers markets and subsidies for local growers, the Wholesome Wave Foundation, has already made it possible for people on food stamps to purchase locally grown food from farmer’s markets in some places. The results of a study on the program indicated that those who redeemed their food stamps at the farmer’s markets continued to buy at the markets even once the subsidies had ended. Wholesome Wave is has grown into an organization in 12 states and the founder remains optimistic about the possibility for inclusion of her ideas in the next farm bill.

The benefits obviously extend to local farmers as well, who receive a much lower percentage of farming subsidies than the Agri-giants in the industry. After perusing the Wholesome Wave’s website, it looks like the main goal of the non-profit is create win-win situations using the allocation of government money to ensure that both rural and urban citizens have access to nutritious food.

For those interested in becoming involved, Wholesome Wave's web site offers ways to either donate or volunteer.





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