Next year, organizers hope to gather all the donations into one pot of money for all three markets to facilitate the process, Anderson said.
Jorge Pereira, of Northampton, buys sugar corn from Doreen Kaparis, co-owner of the Green Meadows Farm, at the farmers' market in Northampton in June.NORTHAMPTON – The city’s farmers markets are teaming up with Grow Food Northampton and the Board of Health to encourage people to spend their food stamps on healthy, locally grown produce.
FoodStampsX2 aims to double the value of food stamps at the three weekly farmers markets, steering recipients away from junk food and towards fresh broccoli, kale and other local farm produce. The program is fueled by donations and staffed by volunteers at the Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday markets.
“The city thinks this is an excellent idea,” said Teri A. Anderson, Northampton’s Community and Economic Development Coordinator. “It provides access to health food that people can afford to purchase. Often you hear that fresh food is expensive and low income people are not always able to afford it.”
According to Anderson, the idea came out of the Farmers Market Subcommittee of the city’s Agricultural Commission. It’s being spearheaded by Ben James, who operates Town Farm and has been a driving force behind the Tuesday Market outside the E. John Gare Parking Garage. The Tuesday Market put the plan into operation last year. It is now expanding to the Wednesday market in Florence and the Saturday market on Gothic Street.
As Anderson explained it, those markets will supplement the amount people spend from their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards up to double the amount, depending on the donations at hand. The tax-deductible donations may be made to either the Health Department, which will accept them for the Wednesday and Saturday markets, or Grow Food Northampton, which will put the proceeds towards the Tuesday market. Grow Food Northampton is a local organization that formed to purchase and lease newly acquired farm land off Spring Street. It is also creating new community gardens on the land.
The Board of Health has provided grant money for the three markets to buy electronic benefit transaction machines in which people can swipe their food stamps or credit cards. Staff at the markets will hand out tokens for the food stamp transactions, supplementing the amounts based on available funds. Customers can then purchase produce with the tokens.
“People receiving assistance are on a very tight budget and they frequently feel they can’t afford the fresh, local, healthy alternatives to the proceeded foods sold at supermarkets,” James said. “Doubling the value of food stamps levels the equation.”
Next year, organizers hope to gather all the donations into one pot of money for all three markets to facilitate the process, Anderson said.
The Tuesday Market is also teaming with the Health Department to create a new, monthly market at Hampshire Heights that will cater to the city’s Latino population. In addition, the Tuesday Market will feature a series of fund-raising events. On May 24, chef Unmi Abkin, of the former Northampton restaurant Cha Cha Cha, will teach onlookers how to cook her popular honey miso noodle salad and give away free copies of the recipe while donations are collected for the FoodStampsX2 program. The local band Lux Deluxe and guitarist Peter Blanchette will also play at the event.