The federal government is about to put $100 million behind a simple idea: doubling the value of SNAP benefits — what used to be called food stamps — when people use them to buy local fruits and vegetables.
This idea did not start on Capitol Hill. It began as a local innovation at a few farmers' markets. But it proved remarkably popular and spread across the country.
"It's so simple, but it has such profound effects both for SNAP recipients and for local farmers," says Mike Appell, a vegetable farmer who sells his produce at a market in Tulsa, Okla.
The idea first surfaced in 2005 among workers at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. They were starting a campaign to get people to eat more fresh produce.
"I think we were trying to confront the idea that healthy foods, [like] fresh fruits and vegetables, are not affordable," says Candace Young, who was director of the department's nutrition programming at the time. (Young now works for The Food Trust in Philadelphia.)
Young recalls that one of their workers pointed out that some SNAP recipients live near farmers markets "and we thought, how about we incentivize them to use their SNAP benefits at these farmers markets?"
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7 comments:
Instead, stop giving abled body people my money not to work and allow self sufficiency to prevail once again!
All for it as long as steamed crabs are not part of the menu!
Stop giving them the food stamps now come on people work and they lose so much money to taxes and other fees. I earn about 600 dollars, 120 is the health insurance fees wouldn't it be nice If I didn't have to pay that and get the free insurance the government gives to the so called poor. Note the insurance is a basic insurance and a premium for a 4 family house hold with most of the most basic features possible.
7:28 all for it???? you have bought into this progressive dribble hook line and sinker, we are talking about food stamps, they were invented by another progressive to supposedly help those that were having a little bad luck. they were supposed to be a short term fix to help people get back on there feet, now we seem to believe that they are just another way of life and we now applaud such initiatives to supposedly help local farmers. tell these folks on food stamps to get off their butts and get a job then they can use their own money to help out the farmers
Free free free and every day l go to work so you can eat for free. The truth is I am the one that is free and you are a slave to the government.
Double the value of their money???
What does that make my hard earned dollar worth???
That's right; FIFTY CENTS!
No soda no chips no steak no shrimp.
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