Farmers Market and SNAP benefits

In this episode, we'll explore our local farmers markets and discuss how you can use your SNAP benefits at the Polk County Farmers Market to access fresh, locally grown foods.

Resources: 

NC State Local Foods:  https://localfood.ces.ncsu.edu/local-food-marketing-markets/local-food-farmers-markets/

Polk County Agricultural Economics Department: https://www.facebook.com/polkcountyfarms/

More in My Basket: https://morefood.org/

More in My Basket Phone number: 

English & Português: 1-855-240-1451

Español: 1-888-382-7105

Transcript

0:01

Welcome back to the Extension Connection podcast, where we connect our listeners to research-based resources to help them build better lives. Hello everyone, this is Lindsey Edwards, your Family and Consumer Science agent in Polk County, and today we're gonna be talking about our local farmers market, some SNAP benefits, and how you can connect the two. Whether we're waking up to a crisp, chilly morning or if we're in the summertime and it's hot and humid in western North Carolina, there is one thing you can always count on, and that is our local farmers market. Rain or shine, they're out there working hard to bring us fresh, nutritious produce and value-added products like baked and canned goods to our tables. Now, we all know that eating fresh is great for our health, but sometimes with our food budgets, this can become something that we feel like is out of reach. Today, we're gonna talk about the hidden gem of our local food system, how you can use your SNAP benefits right at your neighborhood farmers markets. And the great thing about shopping locally is that you can get to know your farmers that are growing your food and you know what practices that you're using to make you feel more comfortable with the food that you're bringing into your home. Also, when you shop locally, you're plugging your food dollars directly back into your local economy. In Polk County, we have two weekly farmers markets. We have one in downtown Saluda, below Saluda Elementary School on Friday evenings from four to six PM, and one in Columbus in between the Wmac Building and the courthouse from eight to 12 on Saturday mornings. The outdoor market runs from May to October, and then they also offer an indoor market during the winter months, the first and third Saturdays at Iron Key Brewing from ten to one, running from November through April. You can visit the Polk County Farms Facebook page for more information, which I will link in the show notes below. If you're interested to learn more about the local foods and especially farmers markets, I'll also put a link in the show notes to NC State's Cooperative Extension local foods page. At the farmers' markets, you can use your SNAP benefits. And if you're new to SNAP, SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In North Carolina, it's available for low-income families, college students, and even some visa status immigrants. If you are approved, you can get an EBT card. EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. Think of it exactly like a debit card. Every month, your benefits are loaded onto your card, replacing the old paper stamps that they used to use. You can use your EBT benefits at the grocery stores, many gas stations, and at most farmers' markets. Now, you might be wondering, how does this work? Do I swipe my card at every single vegetable stand? Not quite. Shopping at the farmers' market's a little different than the grocery store, but it's very simple once you know the secret. Unlike at the store where you make your food selections and purchase all at once, at the farmers' market, you pay at each stand individually. But this doesn't mean you'll be swiping your EBT card at each farmer, since most of them don't take credit cards anyways. To keep it simple, farmers' markets often have one EBT point-of-sale device for the whole market, usually located at some sort of welcome area. At the welcome area, tell the staff how much you want to spend from your account. You'll swipe your card and enter your pin, just like at the store. At the end of the day, farmers turn in their market scripts, and they are given cash. The welcome booth should be easy to find. Just look for signs noting that the EBT SNAP is accepted. If you have trouble finding the welcome booth, ask a vendor. They can point you in the right direction. Those who are wanting to use a credit card Can also receive coins to use at the market in place of cash. A pro tip is to take a lap around the market, see what is in season, and what you wanna buy before you cash in your EBT or your credit card so you know exactly how many coins you need to receive. After you've decided how much you wanna spend of your SNAP benefits, you can then go to the EBT machine or the point of sale, and you can cash that out for coins. Something else you should ask the welcome booth about is if the farmers market participates in Double Bucks. Many North Carolina markets wanna help you get more fresh food, so they offer a dollar for dollar match. For example, if you spend ten of your SNAP benefits, they might give you an extra ten in Double Bucks for free to spend on fruits and vegetables. That effectively doubles your grocery budget. Some markets also offer this through their Triple Buck-Bucks program. Same logic, but triple the amount. Our markets in Polk County, both Saluda and Columbus, do Double Bucks and match your SNAP benefits for extra money. And don't worry if you don't spend all of your tokens in one day. While you cannot trade them back in for cash, they will never expire. Just keep them in your wallet for the next trip to that specific market. At the Columbus and Saluda Farmers Market, there is a tent that they have run by the Polk County Local Agricultural Economic Department. You can visit there to cash in your SNAP benefits and to receive coins that you can then shop around the market and use. Same thing with the credit card. If you don't have SNAP benefits and you don't have cash, You can go swipe and cash in your credit card to use your coins around the market at our local markets, you can double your SNAP benefits up to twenty-five dollars. Which means if you shop at the market once a week using twenty-five each week, you would receive an additional hundred dollars a month in free SNAP benefits to use on local produce. Make sure that after you visit and purchase your fresh fruits and veggies at the market, that you take care to safely and efficiently clean and store your fruits and vegetables in a safe way, ensuring that you're following safety standards in washing and refrigerating to allow your produce to not only stay good as long as possible, but to avoid any foodborne illness. If you're listening and you're thinking, "I could really use help with this," but you haven't applied for SNAP yet, there is a fantastic resource called More In My Basket. This is an NC State Extension program that offers free assistance with the application process. They speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and they're available Monday through Friday, eight to five PM. You can call them toll-free at one-eight-five-five-two-four-zero-one-four-five-one or visit their website morefood.org. Again, that is one-eight-five-five-two-four-zero-one-four-five-one and I will put it down in the show notes as well. So next time you're heading out, grab that EBT card and head to the market. Enjoy the fresh air, meet your farmers, and bring home the best produce North Carolina has to offer. That's all I have for this time. For additional information and resources, you can contact our local Polk County Extension office or for more information on the farmers' markets directly, you can contact or go to the Polk County Farms Facebook page or contact the local Agricultural Economic Department in Polk County. Thank you for listening today to the Extension Connection podcast. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I will also put the contact information for More In My Basket at the bottom in case you want to know more information about SNAP benefits specifically, and I look forward to talking to you next time on the Extension Connection podcast.