ABINGDON, Va. – People who receive food assistance checks from the state are also eligible for a special kind of private assistance: If they spend the money at the Abingdon Farmers’ Market, they can double their dollars.
“Good, healthy, locally produced food is going to be affordable and accessible to people in need, to lower-income people as much as to people of means,” said Anthony Flaccavento, executive director of Appalachian Sustainable Development, which has received a grant from a private foundation for the program.
“If it works in Abingdon, which it appears to be, we’re going to try to spread the EBT [electronic benefit transfer] access to other markets in the region.”
Customers looking to spend their food assistance dollars at the market can simply find the stand offering the free service, swipe their card and receive tokens to spend at the market.
“I’ve received several comments from people who just can’t believe that we’re doing it and are commenting that it couldn’t be at a better time for them personally,” said Farmers Market Manager Sara Cardinale. “Senior citizens are really taking advantage of this program.”
For the Wholesome Wave Foundation, which provided a $20,000 grant, the year-old program already exists in a handful of cities, but this is the first time it’s being tried in a rural area. Michael Nischan, president and CEO of the foundation, said it can work in places like this too.
“It’s just a good, old-fashioned American two-for-one sale,” said Nischan, who hopes success in a handful of farmers market programs can translate into a broad, federally funded program that redirects existing dollars to an effort he said can help feed the poor, reduce the nation’s health care costs and save family farms – all in one fell swoop.
“You have millions of Americans spending millions of assistance dollars on really crappy food because it’s the only calories that they can afford,” Nischan said.
“If we can create the type of incentive that will get those Americans to change their purchasing habits and purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables, what that could do for the local farming economy throughout the United States I believe would be massive,” he said. “And I do believe that the effect on health care costs would be really phenomenal.”
As Congress debates health care reform amid skyrocketing health care costs, Nischan said, more of the debate needs to be about preventive health measures – such as financial incentives to buy fruits and vegetables that would result in “several hundred less tons of junk food” being consumed by Americans – and millions less in health costs.
He said the program can have an added bonus for people in rural communities such as the Abingdon area: It can mean access to information that can help those who are able grow some food of their own to supplement their assistance dollars, while also giving a boost to small growers in a time when farming seems increasingly difficult as a business venture.
“It’s really exciting to know that people on food stamps and [other] assistance can actually help save farms,” Nischan said. “Nobody ever would’ve thought that just last year. So there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity there.”
dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701
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