A new program will enable low-income North Dakota families to purchase fresh produce at different farmers markets in the state.
The program was created to afford the opportunity for families to purchase produce from locally grown markets, said Arlene Dura, director of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.
Last December, the North Dakota Department of Human Services, of which SNAP is a sub-office, and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture met to flesh out this pilot program.
"It's now finally coming together and in fruition," Dura said. "We want to be able to promote healthy eating, the eating of nutritious foods, particularly fruits and vegetables."
Dura noted that similar programs, where farmers' markets accept SNAP benefits, exist in Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota.
SNAP benefits can be used to purchase produce at supermarkets, but this is just another avenue to make the fresh produce available to people, Dura said. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service program, 20 percent of SNAP benefits are used to purchase fruits and vegetables.
"Currently, we have the co-op in Minot, and then we have a market that's in Bismarck, Washburn, Hazen and Beulah, and we have one market in Fargo," Dura said. "Those markets are starting to get up and running."
There are nine vendors total who are participating in the program, seven of which - Catherine's For Lamb, Cutbank Creek Produce, Elizabeth Eckert, Enders Farms, Prairie Produce, Ruso Ranch and North Star Farms are members of the North Prairie Farmers Market, a consortium of farmers' markets with eight locations in northwestern North Dakota. This pilot program, however, is only available at the Minot market, said Ilene Baker, manager of the farmers' market in Minot.
The Community Action Partnership-Minot Region is Minot's North Prairie Farmers Market's fiscal agent. "They have the USDA permit to take SNAP cards," Baker said. "If they hadn't agreed to be our fiscal agent, this wouldn't have happened. They deserve a lot of credit."
Despite the program's reach to helping low-income families, Baker said that it hasn't been taken advantage yet.
"We haven't had any SNAP participants use it yet," Baker said. "The thing is, we've been trying to promote it. We're disappointed that no one has used it yet, but it's a different way of doing things."
Baker noted that through the point-of-sale machines - these machines, similar to ones found in grocery stores, were purchased from a Department of Human Services grant - customers at the farmers' market can pay for produce using EBT cards, as well as credit and debit cards.
A grant from the North Dakota Farmers Market and Growers Association - Baker and her husband are members of its board of directors - helped vendors receive the entire amount.
"No fees, interest or transaction fees are passed on to the vendor," Baker said, noting that the grant funds pay the transaction fees associated with the use of the point-of-sale machines.
While the EBT portion of this program has yet to be used, Baker said she has told some people, including one woman who was emotionally appreciative.
"She started crying because of the fact that someone would take the time and effort to go through this so she could buy fresh, local produce for her daughters," Baker said. The downfall is that this person works during the time of the market.
The farmers' market in Minot is held every Saturday at the parking lot on the corner of 3rd Avenue Southwest and Broadway, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Baker said.
