Winter Park Farmers Market opens up to SNAP/EBT

Filling a basket with Florida-grown fresh fruits and vegetables is now easier for low-income families as the Winter Park Farmers Market becomes more accessible to those in need.

On Saturday, Feb. 4, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program /EBT cardholders started swiping their cards at the WPFM welcome booth to exchange money for tokens that they can use at any of the participating vendors. Also, the initial amount of SNAP/EBT money exchanged for tokens will be matched by the Fresh Access Bucks program, doubling the amount of spending money a person is able to use at the farmers market.

The WPFM also introduced the “No Cash, No Problem” program which allows all customers to buy tokens with their debit and credit cards in case they forget to bring cash. About 50 people participated in one of the three programs last weekend.

For Winter Park resident Noell Boren, the introduction of these programs into the WPFM means making healthy and wise food choices easier and helping the community.

“These people can enjoy a good place,” Boren said. “It’s a local market and the money is going back to the community.”

She said she didn’t even need to go to the grocery store that weekend, as her SNAP/EBT money was doubled by the FAB program. Boren was able to purchase a variety of fresh produce, such as eggplants, tomatoes, and ciabatta bread.

SNAP representative Gabby Lothrop said the program is beneficial because farmers markets create a unique set of circumstances where people can interact with the community.

“As a farmers market advocate, bringing a new point of access into the farmers market means also creating more opportunities for community building which is an important part of it as well,” Lothrop said.

One of the best things about the WPFM is its location, Lothrop said. Because of that, she believes there are many people in the area who could benefit from the programs offered.

“Winter Park’s farmers market is a landmark,” Lothrop said. “It’s one of the biggest and best-known farmers markets in Central Florida and it really sits at kind of the meeting place of different communities—not just in Winter Park but in the surrounding area.”

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, over 3.25 million people in Florida received SNAP benefits in November 2016. FAB Co-Manager Katie Delaney said the state also has one of the highest levels of food insecurity, ranking 12th in the country.

“We love to work with farmers markets that are in locations that are accessible to low-income families,” Delaney said. “That’s definitely an issue we battle here in Florida.”

She said there will be 40 farmers markets accepting SNAP/EBT across the state by March 2017. Locally, the only other farmers market to currently accept SNAP/EBT is the Audubon Park Community Market.

While only five people participated in the SNAP/EBT program the first day at the WPFM, Delaney said once people realize they can buy fresh produce straight from the farmers market with their SNAP/EBT benefits, they might find it to be more convenient than shopping at stores like Wal-Mart.

“What’s really great about the program is that it’s the most bang for their buck,” Delaney said.

As for the vendors, It’s Apples owner Scott Shockley said the new programs will benefit the market in bringing in more customers.

“I think it’ll help people come in and buy things that maybe they weren’t able to in the past,” Shockley said. “So it gives a wider range of customer base.”

The only question Shockley said he and the other vendors might have involves the actual tokens themselves and the process of cashing them in at the end of the day.

“The logistics of getting that handled in a timely manner is what I think would be the biggest concern for vendors.”

Lothrop hopes that as more people hear about the program, they will be able to serve more SNAP/EBT cardholders and expand their access to Florida-grown food.

“Everybody deserves to be able to make a choice when they’re shopping, and this market allows that,” Lothrop said.