FRANKLIN COUNTY TO HELP MORE ENJOY LOCAL PRODUCE. THE GRANT THAT WAS GIVEN TO THE SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT- CAPITOL CROSSROADS for their Pearl Alley Market every Tuesday and Friday 10-30-2:00 that bring local farmers to town received front-page Metro coverage in the Columbus Dispatch. What was started last year as a $6500 grant, was rolled out to a $10,000 grant by Puffin Foundation West for this year’s market. Read all about how this idea has been picked up by the City of Columbus and how neighbors who have EBT/SNAP cards all over CMH will get fresh local produce and how the farmers also have the potential to double their sales to SNAP card recipients.
FROM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH JULY 13, 2014- article by Josh Jarman
…..On Tuesday, the Franklin County commissioners are expected to approve spending $10,000 to help low-income county residents buy goods at local farmers markets. Modeled after a program that began last year at the Downtown Pearl Market, the program will allow people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, traditionally known as food stamps, to use them at six area farmers markets, including Pearl Market.
The program, called Veggie SNAPs, also will provide a matching amount of up to $10 for buying fresh local food with food-stamp benefits. Benefits are loaded onto an electronic debit card. Recipients who take their card to one of the participating farmers markets will be able to debit $10 from it to receive $20 in tokens to spend at the market. They can get the match for each visit and use it multiple times a week if they attend different farmers markets…….
Pearl Market manager Adam Schroeder said the market matched more than $4,400 in tokens last year that were purchased by low-income county residents with funding from the Puffin Foundation West.
The benefit of providing locally grown foods to more county residents has a multiplier effect on the health and economy of the region, he said. “It keeps the money local, which is big.”
One thing Schroeder has noticed in watching the program work at Pearl Market is how many people who come for the first time because of the match come back after they realize that the food is more affordable than they expected. People soon realize they “really do have access to these foods even when not receiving benefits,” he said.
Commissioner Marilyn Brown said she thinks the county should try to make healthful fruits and vegetables available to as many people as possible and promote healthful eating as a way to ward off the adverse health effects associated with poor nutrition.
