Thousands more farmer’s markets are getting ready to accept food stamps as a form of payment. As part of the USDA’s (US Department of Agriculture) mission to get Americans eating more healthy, fresh food, they have been working to encourage the use of EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer - another term for “food stamps”) at the markets.
Today less than 25% of the nation’s 7,000 registered farmers markets accept EBT as payment. But a recent report from the USDA shows that spending at the farmer’s markets under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has jumped 400%. With more markets coming online to accept EBT, those spending figures are expected to increase. The trend is great for farmers and for those who have traditionally been unable to afford to buy local produce at the markets.
In May of this year, the USDA announced plans to begin allocating funds to the states that have the highest number of farmer’s markets without the ability to access EBT. The funds will be used to help those markets purchase the wireless point-of-sale technology that is needed to run the EBT cards as a form of payment. The $4 million fund aims to bring some 4,000 more markets online. California is the recipient of one of the largest grants of $426,945 to service 687 markets (Associated Press).
The USDA website has a search function to find the farmers market nearest you. And you can narrow the search down to which markets accept subsidized payments. With its innovative approach the USDA has made supporting local farmers and eating healthy, locally grown food just a little bit easier.
