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Use of Food Stamps at Farmers' Markets Rises Nationally
pilot program that began last year in Vermont in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls to allows consumers to use food stamps at farmers' markets is now spreading across the state, and the rest of the country. In 2007, the experimental service was set up at the two Windham County markets. While there were a few glitches with the wireless technology, six other markets are also trying the service out this season across the state.
And at other markets from Maine to Hawaii, farmers are introducing the electronic debit systems that allow low income families to use their federal food assistance dollars to purchase local fruits and vegetables.
The number of farmers' markets across the country accepting electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, transactions increased from 532 in 2007 to 605 as of June 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Nancy Montanez Johner, said both food stamp recipients and farmers have benefited from the success of the program.
"Farmers' markets give food stamp recipients opportunities to improve their nutrition by increasing their consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables," Montanez Johner said. "The Food Stamp Program also benefits local farmers by bringing additional customers to their markets to purchase their products."
In Connecticut, the number of farmers' markets accepting EBT transactions rose from five in 2004 to 18 in 2007. New York saw its overall EBT use at farmers' markets jump 52 percent between 2006 and 2007.
And in Michigan, where two markets were set up to accept EBT sales in 2006, 11 joined the program the following year.
This year, 46 states have at least one farmers' market accepting EBT transactions.
Last year the Brattleboro Farmers' Market recorded $333 in food stamp sales.
Jean Hamilton, the food security and marketing coordinator at the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, said the markets this year are off to a good start. pilot program that began last year in Vermont in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls to allows consumers to use food stamps at farmers'... more -
Food stamp recipients scramble for food
Danielle Brown stands outside a South Side market at midnight, braving the spring chill for her first chance to buy groceries since her food stamps ran out nearly two weeks ago.
For days, Brown said, she has been turning cans of "whatever we got in the cabinet" into breakfast, lunch and dinner for her children, ages 1 and 3.
"Ain't got no food left, the kids are probably hungry," said Brown, a 23-year-old single mother who relies heavily on her $312 monthly allotment of food stamps — a ration adjusted just once a year, in October
This is what the skyrocketing cost of food looks like at street level: Poor people whose food stamps don't buy as much as they once did rushing into a store in the dead of night, filling shopping carts with cereal, eggs and milk so their kids can wake up on the first day of the month to a decent meal.
"People with incomes below the poverty threshold are in dire straits because not only are food prices increasing but the food stamps they are receiving have not increased," said Dr. John Cook, an associate professor at Boston University's medical school who has studied the food stamp program, particularly how it affects children.
Midnight watch
On the South Side of Chicago, people like Brown wait for the stroke of midnight, when one month gives way to another and brings a new allotment of food stamps. Danielle Brown stands outside a South Side market at midnight, braving the spring chill for her first chance to buy groceries since he... more -
Food stamp use nears record
Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s. Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reac... more
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Guitar Bob Final
This is a simple pod about a homeless guy in Savannah G.A. This is the last cut of the pod.
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Guitar Bob (rough cut)
This is a great story about a homeless guy in Savannah, G.A. that lives in the woods, is on food stamps, has 2 successful children, and a college degree. This is a great story about a homeless guy in Savannah, G.A. that lives in the woods, is on food stamps, has 2 successful children, an... more
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Food Stamps
