How to fix the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program in Shelby County, Tennessee

If you need some back story on the Senior FMNP or how how it has played out this summer in Shelby County, let me direct you to several recent bits in the local media:

Food Fight: turmoil at the Memphis Farmers Market exposes flaws in Tennessee's food-voucher system, Cover story in the Memphis Flyer

Josephine Alexander: Making the senior farmers market voucher program work, Commercial Appeal Going Green blog post

Wendi Thomas: Farmers market has ugly underside

Ready for some solutions?  Here are the concrete recommendations of GrowMemphis and the Food Advisory Council for Memphis and Shelby County:

Recommendations to improve the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program in Shelby County and the State of Tennessee.

The Problem:  There are insufficient retail outlets in Shelby County to serve senior citizens participating in the Senior FMNP.  The result is that many seniors must go through considerable difficulty to use their vouchers.   

Recommendations to the Tennessee Department of Health

Under the federal legislation, states have considerable leeway in how the Senior FMNP is administered.   Key changes in the way the program is run in Tennessee would both increase the number of eligible farmers, and make it easier for those farmers to participate in the program. 

1.     Allow farmers from adjoining states to participate.  For example, allow out-of-state farmers within 100 miles of Shelby County to be eligible.

2.     Make it easier for farmers to get trained by allowing for multi-year contracts with farmers and remote training, for example by webinar or video conferencing.

3.     Provide clear explanation of the criteria an applicant must meet in order to be considered a “farmer”, and work with farmers markets, which often visit farms on an annual basis, to conduct farm inspections.

4.     Work with advocates to explore certifying farmers markets in addition to individual farmers.

5.     Work with advocates to explore other barriers to farmer participation, such as financial losses from unpaid SFMNP checks.

Recommendations to the Shelby County Health Department

Work with farmers markets to conduct outreach for the Senior FMNP including, but not limited to, the following strategies:

1.     Schedule farmer training earlier in the season and hold the training at an easily accessible location such as the Agricenter

2.     Notify farmers markets of the training with sufficient time for markets to conduct outreach to the farmers that attend those markets

3.     Invite farmers market staff to attend trainings.  Seniors and farmers often have questions that market personnel are ill-equipped to answer

4.     Provide phone numbers for the Health Department in information distributed to senior citizens

Have an initial meeting with farmers markets and advocates by December 2011 to develop a time-lined outreach plan for 2012.   

New program doubles value of food stamps at farmers markets in Memphis

Memphis, Tenn. – August 1, 2011 – GrowMemphis announced today the start of a new program to give shoppers using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps, more purchasing power at two Memphis farmers markets. The new program, called Double Green$, will provide a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10 when shoppers spend their SNAP benefits at participating farmers markets.

Earlier this year, the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, South Memphis Farmers Market, and Urban Farms Market became the first farmers markets in Memphis, and among the first in Tennessee, to accept SNAP benefits market-wide. Now, the Double Green$ program will go even further toward increasing access to fresh, healthy, and affordable foods, especially in the food desert areas surrounding or nearby these markets, by making locally grown fruits and vegetables more affordable.   

Both the Cooper-Young and South Memphis farmers markets are participating in Double Green$.  The Urban Farms market is waiting for a determination of their eligibility.  All three markets currently accept food stamps.

“We’ve been slowly ramping up this program with our SNAP customers for the past few weeks, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive from vendors and shoppers alike,” said Sue Easley, organizer of the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market. “It’s been a great experience working with GrowMemphis and our other local farmers markets as a team to bring something to Memphis that has the potential to really help our low-income residents, our farmers, our neighborhoods, and our rural communities, all in one swoop.” 

How does it work?  Shoppers can go to the market booth and swipe their EBT card, receiving tokens that can be spent with vendors.  Double Green$ will match, dollar-for-dollar and up to $10, the amount that they put on their EBT card with tokens that can be used to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.  

“Double Green$ gets more people to the markets, increases revenue for farmers, and increases access to healthy foods for low-income residents” says Josephine Alexander of GrowMemphis, “We know that food stamps make Tennessee stronger.  Now, food stamps can make farmers markets stronger, too.”

By increasing attendance and sales at farmers markets in areas with limited access to healthy food, those markets become stronger and more successful, so that they can continue to serve neighborhood residents with much needed access to healthy and affordable food choices. 

In order to bring this program to Memphis, GrowMemphis partnered with Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut-based non-profit working with partners in 26 states to implement  double value coupon programs like Double Green$ that benefit consumers in under-served communities and the farmers who provide for them.

The program is expected to run through the end of October.  Funds for Double Green$ have been provided by the Wholesome Wave Foundation, Whole Foods Market, the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, and Seedco.

About GrowMemphis

GrowMemphis is a non-profit organization that fosters the creation of robust community food systems that eliminate hunger, promote health, and further social justice.  GrowMemphis provides support and assistance for over 25 community gardening projects in Memphis as well as convening the Food Advisory Council working group to inform public policy in order to create a healthier food system for our region.  For more information please contact Josephine Alexander, josephine@midsouthpeace.org or 901-725-4990.

About Wholesome Wave

Wholesome Wave is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to supporting small- and mid-sized farmers and making fresh, healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables available to all people, regardless of income.  With the help of more than 45 partner organizations, Wholesome Wave has expanded to more than 170 markets in 26 states, Wholesome Wave's highly successful Double Value Coupon Program gives participating farmers markets the tools they need to welcome SNAP benefits (formerly known as Federal Food Stamps)—as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (FMNP) and the Senior FMN—and allows recipients of those benefits to buy more fresh, healthy foods for their families. With the goal of influencing public policy and shifting federal funding to support innovative, market-based programs that meet its goals, Wholesome Wave develops and implements systems and processes that track program success and the health and purchasing habits of the people it serves. For more information, visit www.wholesomewave.org.