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NORTHAMPTON -- Crimson & Clover Farms is offering a way for food stamp recipients to bring home locally grown produce.
The farm is accepting applications for 40 Community Supported Agriculture - otherwise known as CSA - shares that can be paid for through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. That's up from the 26 shares Crimson and & Clover offered last year.
"We want to be able to serve everybody in the community," said farm co-owner Nate Frigard Tuesday.
SNAP program members pay for half the $420 cost of a small share, which can feed up to two people, or half of the $580 cost for a regular share that feeds three to four people. Small-share participants can choose from six items out of 12 to 14 different types of vegetables on their designated weekly pickup days. Produce options change throughout the season.
SNAP shares can be paid for monthly monthly, usually $42 for a small share and $74 for a regular share, but can't be paid for through any other payment methods.
Crimson & Clover has been advertising its SNAP share at food pantries in Northampton and Amherst, and thanks to those marketing efforts only has 18 spots left.
Frigard said SNAP shares are treated the same way as those in the regular CSA program.
"They're just like any other shareholder," Frigard said of SNAP program participants. "We don't make it complicated for them."
The program expansion was made possible through donations by local non-profit Grow Food Northampton, which owns Crimson & Clover's land. The farm has offered at least a handful of SNAP shares since its CSA program started in 2011.
Call Crimson & Clover at 413-570-0337 to secure a share.