Farm to Table: Food Assistance, Market Match increases access to healthy food

Sequim Farmers Market

When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, June 9

Where: Sequim Civic Center Plaza

What will you bring from the Sequim Farmers Market to your table this week?

The selection from our local farms is growing. New at the market this week are Clark Farms with grass fed beef and pastured pork, and Graysmarsh Farm is arriving with the season’s first strawberries!

You will also find vegetables from River Run Farm, mushrooms from Morel Compass, eggs from Sativa Valley Essentials, award-winning honey from Sequim Bee Farm and Garry Flynn, and Olympic Onion Farm’s famous onion powder.

Nothing compares with the taste of fruit and vegetables from the farmers market. Produce at the market is harvested ripe, and usually picked the day before it is sold. Produce loses its nutritional value over time after harvest so when you purchase fruits and vegetables at your local farmers market, the food you are buying is not only a treat for your taste buds but it is also nutritionally superior to produce at most grocery stores that often has traveled great distances across the globe and is often made available to customers weeks after harvest.

More access

Everyone deserves access to nutrient dense foods that are grown in the community where they live. Now at the Sequim Farmers Market, people receiving food assistance have increased access to these healthy foods with new Market Match programs:

Every Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., the Sequim Farmers Market is now accepting and matching vouchers and credits from a number of programs, including: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT); Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP).

This is the first year that EBT food benefits can be used at the Sequim Farmers Market to purchase eligible foods including all non-prepared food available at the market such as vegetables, fruit, bread, meat, eggs, mushrooms, herbs, edible plant starts, honey, spices, dry teas and more!

The Sequim Farmers Market is proud to offer a food assistance matching program, which gives shoppers using federal food assistance dollars more buying power for the purchase of fresh, local food.

EBT cards redeemed at the market booth is matched with Fresh Bucks, a market currency supported by a Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

Farmers Markets in Bainbridge, Bremerton, Jefferson County, Kitsap County, Mason County, Port Angeles, Port Orchard, Poulsbo, Sequim, and Shelton all accept Fresh Bucks.

For each $5 market shoppers spend on their EBT card, they will be given an additional $2 in Fresh Bucks to purchase fruit and vegetables at participating Washington State farmers markets. There is no limit on the amount of EBT dollars that can be matched with Fresh Bucks. In other words, if a shopper spends $50 on their EBT card they will be given $20 in Fresh Bucks. If they spend $100 on EBT, they will get $40 in Fresh Bucks.

The Sequim Farmers Market is also able to provide matching funds to families who receive Women Infants and Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers, and senior citizens using Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers.

The Sequim Farmers Market matches each full packet of FMNP vouchers with $20 in market tokens that can be used when purchasing from farm vendors at the market. This market match is made possible with a generous donation from 1st Security Bank.

Healthy options

Why is the Sequim Farmers Market implementing these Market Match programs? Cost is often cited as a key barrier to eating fruits and vegetables. Our food assistance matching programs promote healthy choices while reducing food insecurity.

Similar programs have been in place for several years at the Jefferson County Farmers Markets, where they have made a huge difference for families, seniors and individuals who are low-income.

Amanda Milholland, Jefferson County Farmers Market Director, says, “These programs help to ensure that our local community has greater access to fruit and vegetables at the peak of their freshness. At the same time, it boosts our local economy by putting money directly into the hands of local farmers.”

The Sequim Farmers Market is looking for more support this season to increase the impact of the market match, and to ensure that we can continue to offer these matching programs to our community.

More info

Not sure if you are eligible?

SNAP/EBT benefits are distributed by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. The Clallam County DSHS office is in Port Angeles (877-501-2233). WIC FMNP vouchers are distributed by the Clallam County WIC office that can be reached at 360-417-2275. Senior FMNP vouchers are distributed by OlyCAP Senior Nutrition office; call 360-452-4726.

A special thanks to Bell & Davis Law, Brokers Group Real Estate, First Federal Savings & Loan, for supporting the Sequim Farmers Market.

Elli Rose is the Sequim Farmers Market manager. Contact her at manager@sequimmarket.com or 360-582-6218, or see www.sequimmarket.com.

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