Kalamazoo Farmers Markets to offer Double Up Food Bucks

A program that helps people eat better by making locally grown produce more affordable is coming to Kalamazoo.

The city becomes the latest to offer Double Up Food Bucks to families eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Fair Food Matters will oversee the program locally, says Paul Stermer, executive director of Fair Food Matters.

The way it works is that for every $2 in food stamps spent on fresh food at participating farmers markets, Bridge Card holders will receive $2 worth of bonus tokens, which can be used to buy fresh Michigan-grown produce. They can receive up to $20 in tokens per visit.

The tokens are then exchanged for Michigan-grown fruits and vegetables. Growers who receive the Double Up Food Bucks tokens return them and are reimbursed with cash in an equivalent amount.

The tokens will be available at Kalamazoo Farmers Market, 1204 Bank Street, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays beginning June 4; People's Food Co-op 100-Mile Market, 507 Harrison Street 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays beginning June 15 and Douglass Farmers Market, 1000 West Paterson Street, 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, June 28, July 26, and Aug. 23.

The Fair Food Network -- not related to Fair Food Matters -- started the program as a pilot in the fall of 2009 at Detroit's Eastern Market. Since then it has grown to 42 sites around the state through funding from more than 25 local, state and national foundations.

From August to October 2010, families used federal food assistance dollars and matching Double Up Food Buck tokens to purchase $203,451 worth of locally grown produce from 15 farmers markets. Those dollars flowed directly to small farmers and their rural communities, says Stermer.

Double Up Food Bucks in Kalamazoo is funded by grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the New York-based Open Society Foundation.

Fair Food Network is seeking funding to continue the program in Kalamazoo through 2013.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Paul Stermer, Fair Food Matters