02-2-2010

Fresh for All at the 2010 RI Local Food Forum

EBT data

The chart above shows EBT (aka Food Stamps aka SNAP) sales at our farmers markets for every month of the year between 2007, 2008 and 2009. Not counted in the graph is an additional $11,000 in 2009 from the Bonus Bucks program described below, bringing the 2009 total to over $32,000.

Fresh for All is the theme of this year’s Local Food Forum. At a time when our local farms are growing and the local food economy is enjoying great success, we are taking this day to examine how to make sure every Rhode Islander is able to participate in our (Rhode Is)land of plenty.

If we look back, one of the reasons why agriculture stagnated for so many decades is because farms and fresh food became increasingly irrelevant to people’s lives. So, going forward, how can we ensure that RI agriculture reaches every Rhode Islander? How can we ensure that every Rhode Islander feels invested in our farms and our food, and likewise that Rhode Island farmers have a stake in our cities and towns?

Farmers markets are one way that rural and urban Rhode Island can connect. By running farmers markets in Providence, Pawtucket and Woonsocket, Farm Fresh RI provides ways for city folks to participate in local agriculture, and for local agriculture to play a role in the city. These markets provide an important source of fresh fruits and vegetables in many neighborhoods and a key source of income for many farms. This win-win is helped by innovative programs that make these foods even more affordable at a time when a record number of Rhode Islanders are using SNAP, the new name for Food Stamps.

In 2007, we began accepting SNAP at our farmers markets and in summer 2009, we partnered with the Wholesome Wave Foundation to offer Bonus Bucks to SNAP customers at our markets. Every SNAP customer could receive up to $10 extra to shop at the market per day. The Bonus Bucks program allows people to stretch their food budgets farther and still provide healthy foods for their family. The Bonus Bucks program also increases the buying power of communities that may be otherwise be perceived by farmers as less lucrative. Farmers, after all, have to make a buck too.

Bonus Bucks was a runaway success, so much so that SNAP customer participation in the 2009 markets increased seven-fold vs. 2008. We’re excited to announce that we’re able to extend the program to the 2010 Wintertime Farmers Market thanks to generous funding from The Rhode Island Foundation. (If you’d like to help get the word out, there’s a double-sided flier you can print out and pass around.)

The keynote speaker at this year’s Local Food Forum is Gus Schumacher, chairman of the Wholesome Wave Foundation. Before tackling Bonus Bucks for SNAP, Gus pioneered the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which is a federal program providing low-income mothers and children with $15 coupons each year for farmers market produce. The program has brought fresh foods within reach for hundreds of thousands and has provided millions of dollars for thousands of family farms. Now Bonus Bucks, which is operating as a pilot in over a dozen cities across the country, has the potential to do the same for thousands more in Rhode Island, and millions of Americans.

What other Fresh for All ideas are out there? Among them, the incredible farm-to-school work of KidsFirst; our Healthy Foods, Healthy Families nutrition education program at neighborhood farmers markets and similar programs from URI and Johnson & Wales; CSAs and farmers markets that accept SNAP; the community gardens of Southside Community Land Trust; the school gardens of the Children’s Garden Network; school trips to orchards and working farms; and in 2010, the WIC program will expand to offer mothers monthly coupons for fruits and veggies.

We look forward to continuing the conversation at the Local Food Forum!