NORTHAMPTON -- Lisa Thwing tries to eat healthy.
But it's not always easy to do as a 68-year-old woman who collects a modest pension from past jobs. And when her benefits classification transitioned from "disabled" to "senior," she found most of her money went toward Medicare because she no longer qualified for MassHealth insurance.
That's how Thwing came to enroll in Grow Food Northampton's farm share program for seniors. She pays $1 a week for a 10-week period in the summer and receives a bag full of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and other seasonal veggies.
"I think it's wonderful," Thwing said Tuesday after picking up her produce at the Northampton Senior Center Tuesday afternoon. "It helps me. Otherwise it would be more difficult to eat well on my budget."
Grow Food Northampton and the Northampton Senior Center have expanded their collaboration this summer to address food security in the area by making fresh produce from Crimson & Clover Farm in Florence accessible to low-income seniors. The program, which began in 2011 under CISA's Senior FarmShare program, has grown to 55 shares this year, up from 30 in 2014.
Clem Clay, Grow Food Northampton's executive director, said there were originally only 40 spots open for seniors this year, but more applied. It turned out that the organization had over-budgeted veggies for its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-related program, so Grow Food was able to enroll the 15 extra folks.
The bag of veggies varies each week, Clay said, but always includes at least five different kinds of produce.
"Many seniors grew up on farms or with easy access to local produce, but can't obtain it regularly now," said Michele Dihlmann, who manages program sign-ups and produce distribution for the Northampton Senior Center.
To be eligible, participants must be 60 or older, claim a Northampton residency and either fall under a certain income level or receive finance-based benefits such as SNAP.
Grow Food and the senior center also launched a delivery system for the program this year for seniors who are home-bound. Margaret LaPalme, a 64-year-old volunteer out of Westhampton, drops veggies off at the residencies of five farm share holders each Tuesday.
"I grew up on a farm, and I like to get fresh veggies in the hands of people," she said.
Dihlmann said she hopes to expand the delivery system next year, but needs more volunteers for that to happen.
Grow Food Northampton operates the 120-acre Northampton Community Farm in Florence, most of which is leased to farms like Crimson & Clover Farm. The organization also offers a discounted fee for low-income gardeners to rent an organic garden plot, and families receiving SNAP benefits may use them to buy a half-price farm share at Crimson & Clover. Grow Food pays for the other half.
Although funding is not linked to CISA's Senior FarmShare program, the Northampton partnership contributes to the effort led by CISA at 14 sites across the region.
"Senior FarmShare has tripled since CISA started it in 2004 and now the program serves 430 seniors in all three Pioneer Valley counties," said Claire Morenon, program coordinator for CISA. "We are thrilled that Grow Food Northampton has embraced Senior FarmShare as a model to increase the amount of fresh produce available to seniors."
Adelaide England, an 82-year old who lives at Michael's House at O'Connell Senior Living on State Street, said simply of the program, "It keeps me from getting as hungry as I would. It's a relief."