Northampton Tuesday Farmers Market
Produce is pictured at a Farmers Market in Northampton.
(Dan Warner/Masslive.com)
BOSTON - Massachusetts has received a $3.4 million grant from the federal government for a four-year program that will help food stamp recipients purchase fresh fruit and vegetables from local farmers.
The program will provide a dollar for dollar match to food stamp recipients who purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from a farmers' market, community supported agriculture or similar program. The new program expands on a pilot program that ran in Hampden County in 2012.
"This program is important in promoting healthy eating for our clients and expanding opportunities to purchase healthy food in areas of the state that might have challenges in getting fresh fruit and vegetables," said Thomas Massimo, acting commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance.
The federal grant comes from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive, a program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and funded by the 2014 farm bill. It will be matched by another $3.4 million from the state and community partner agencies.
The exact details of how the program will work are still being worked out, but the basic idea will be to allow food stamp users to double the value of their food stamps if they spend the money buying fresh fruits and vegetables at a farmers' market or CSA. It will also cover mobile farmers' markets, buses selling fresh produce that go to areas that generally have less access to local agriculture. The benefits will be capped at between $40 and $80 a month, depending on household size. The state will use this year for education, outreach and planning, and will begin the program in 2016.
State and federal officials say there are benefits in terms of both public health and support for local agriculture. The Massachusetts departments of agriculture and public health are both involved in the program.
"Some of our clients both in Western Massachusetts and other parts of the state live in areas we call food deserts in that they don't have the same choices of markets and farm stands and fresh food opportunities as some other areas do, and this helps open up these markets to our clients," Massimo said. "It is also beneficial to the local businesses, the farmers that are trying to sell their products."
This is not the first time Massachusetts has experimented with incentives to encourage food stamp recipients to eat healthy. Massachusetts ran a pilot program in Hampden County in 2012 where 7,500 food stamp recipients received an additional 30 cents in food stamp benefits for each $1 they spent buying fruits and vegetables.
A USDA study of that incentive program found that program participants ate around 25 percent more fruits and vegetables than food stamp recipients who were not in the program. Program participants spent more money buying fruits and vegetables than non-participants. Recipients of the incentive reported that they bought more fresh produce and a wider variety of produce than they would have otherwise, and they felt the produce was more affordable.
Nationally, the USDA announced $31 million in similar grants to 26 states, which can be used over four years. The farm bill appropriated $100 million, so more money will be awarded in future years.
USDA Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon said it is in the taxpayers' interest to subsidize these programs because of the public health benefits. "One-third of the population in the U.S. is so seriously overweight that it compromises their quality of life, but it also ultimately results in a number of chronic illnesses and disease conditions that cost hundreds of billions of dollars, much of it borne by taxpayer programs like Medicaid or Medicare," Concannon said.
Currently, there are close to 800,000 Massachusetts residents on food stamps. Of 305 farmers' markets or farmers who sell directly to the public, around 200 accept food stamps - a number program administrators hope to increase. Nationally, since 2009, Concannon said the number of farmers' markets accepting food stamps or electronic benefits has jumped from 900 to nearly 6,000.
Concannon said the processing of benefits can be done with simple technology that can be attached to a smart phone.
Howard Lefenfeld, market manager at the Great Barrington Farmers' Market, said his market decided last year for the first time to accept SNAP benefits. He said there has been little use of food stamps at the market so far. But he would like to see more food stamp recipients there.
"The farmers' markets produce locally grown produce, and it's offered to the community, and we would like to see the community expand to those participants who accept food stamps," Lefenfeld said. "Part of the idea of the grant is to get more people who could be eligible to sign up and take advantage of the SNAP program and eat the nutritious foods they would get at a farmers' market. It's a win-win. It's good for everyone."