People receiving benefits from several food assistance programs can double their dollars at participating farmers markets.
The program is offered through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, according to a press release from the university.
Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children qualify.
Kayla Lindsey, manager of the Fayetteville Farmer's Market, said the market is able to basically cut the cost of farmers market food in half through the program.
The Fayetteville Farmers Market accepts SNAP and promotes accepting WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers, Lindsey said.
"While none of our vendors are required to participate in any program, we do encourage and assist our vendors in signing up for as many as are applicable to them," Lindsey said.
Lindsey said Double Your Dollar funds can be used to buy any food item, except prepared food or drink items from a food truck or kiosk.
"Double Your Dollars cards can be used for fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, meats, cheese, baked goods, food-producing plants and seeds and locally made foods such as jellies, salsa and pickles," Lindsey said.
The Double Your Dollars Program is a "lifeline" for low-income households in the community, she said.
"The Fayetteville Farmer's Market participates in the program because we believe that every person deserves the opportunity to access fresh, local food."
Dylan Taylor, manager of the Bentonville Farmers Market, said Double Your Dollars and SNAP can be taken by most food vendors, but WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers can only be used at approved vendors. Vendors have to apply through the individual programs to be approved, he said.
Each program has specific requirements on what the money can be spent on, but most emphasize fruits and vegetables since the goal is to provide access to healthy foods, Taylor said.
Hot foods, alcohol, tobacco products, inedible flowers, arts and crafts items and pet foods are not eligible for purchase through the program, according to UAMS.
PROGRAM PRAISE
Nick Martin is a vendor at the Bella Vista Farmers Market. He said the Double Your Dollars program has increased the revenue of his business, 922 Cattle Co.
The Anderson, Mo.-based business sells processed beef, such as steaks, roasts and ground beef.
Martin said participating in the program has been great and has opened up another avenue for his farm to make money. He said the customers at the market are great, and his fellow vendors have become his friends.
Kimberly Simmons, a former SNAP recipient, used Double Your Dollars at the Siloam Springs Farmers Market. "It was wonderful," she said.
She said she feels like she was getting more at the farmers market using the program than shopping at the grocery store with SNAP benefits.
Simmons said at the farmers market she bought chicken, beef, produce, an elderberry plant and baked breads.
While she no longer qualifies for SNAP benefits, Simmons said she recommends the Double Your Dollars program to everyone she knows who receives the benefits.
Hannah Dial, a project manager with the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, said, "by providing a match in funding to customers, the local produce becomes half the price and supports our local farmers and farmers markets. It's very rewarding to know that the Northwest Arkansas local food system is bettering the health of our community one bite at a time."
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Vendors are reimbursed, which is how use of the program is tracked. There has been an increase in reimbursement to vendors in the past two years of the program, an indication more state benefit recipients are spending their benefits on fresh produce, Dial previously told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The program served 663 SNAP customers and 576 people using Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program benefits, totaling $53,670 in vouchers at participating markets in 2023, according to a UAMS news release.
SNAP, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program and WIC recipients can participate in Double Your Dollars by visiting the information booth at one of the participating farmers markets to receive vouchers that are applied at purchase, the release states.
Customers take their SNAP cards or vouchers to the manager's booth to participate in the program at the Fayetteville market, Lindsey said. A market staff member will match the customer's funds and explain what can be purchased at the market.
She said the Double Your Dollars program currency are cards in denominations of $1, $2 and $5. Funds taken off a customer's EBT card are distributed as wooden tokens. She said vendors are required to display signs for each of the programs they participate in to show they accept the currency.
The Double Your Dollars program is supported by funding from the Walmart Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation, according to UAMS.
Shoppers look for fresh produce Saturday July 6, 2024 at the Fayetteville Farmers Market. Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children benefits are able to receive a dollar-for-dollar match on locally grown produce at select Northwest Arkansas farmers markets. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. Wampler)
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