Food Stamps at Farmers Markets: the carrot, not the stick!

I was just directed to an excellent blog post:

If You Haven’t Been On Food Stamps, Stop Trying to Influence Government Policy

The bottom line?  Until you've been on food stamps, stop trying to tell people who are on food stamps what they should and should not eat.  It perpetuates the popular and beloved American myth that poor people are stupid and don't know how to take care of themselves or their families.  We all make bad food choices, even those of us with economic privilege make bad food choices, and we have more choices to make.  In the words of my friend and co-conspirator, Connie Binkowitz, our job is to make the healthy choice the easy choice for everyone.  We cannot "punish" people for eating fast food and soda while doing nothing to make affordable healthy options available and accessible in all neighborhoods and to all people.

Every corner store in Memphis takes food stamps, but how many farmers markets do?  Well this year, three farmers markets have made the commitment to take food stamps market wide, the South Memphis Farmers Market, the Urban Farms Market, and the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market.  Hat's off to them for their commitment to increasing access to healthy, fresh and local food.  The Urban Farms market has been taking food stamps since late April, and despite using only word-of-mouth advertising, the number of folks coming to the market to use their federal benefits has been steadily increasing.  "Those people" want to buy healthy, organic, farm-fresh produce just like "the rest of us".  Who would have thought?

It's all about access.  You can't expect someone to make a healthy choice if the option just isn't there.  Or if the option is not affordable.  Access means financial access, too.  Soda and fast food burgers are cheap, after all.  And when you need to feel full, that burger does a better job than any local organic apple.  From an economic perspectives, we healthy food advocates have our work cut out for us.

Enter the Double Value Coupon Program.  Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut non-profit, works with farmers markets across the country to implement programs that double people's money when they use food stamps at farmers markets.  This benefits farmers, by helping redirect some of the billions of dollars in food stamps into their pockets, while also benefiting consumers by making the healthy food they want more affordable.   It's a win for farmers, a win for farmers markets, and a win for consumers.  It's a carrot, not a stick.  And we're all for more carrots, right?

Want to see something like this in Memphis?  Well just stay tuned for another couple months.....