Food stamp recipients gain access to area farmers markets

June 27, 2010 KansasCity.com

The value of a farmers market is fairly evident: fresh, healthful produce, grown locally.

But for the more than 115,000 people in the Kansas City area who rely on government food assistance, the markets were virtually off limits. Many farmers take cash only, and not many have a scanner for the Electronic Benefit Transfer cards that food stamp recipients use.

A new program launched over the weekend aims to change that.

The nonprofit Beans and Greens program is helping several area farmers markets accept EBT cards as a form of payment. The program will match - up to $30 a week - whatever is spent, in effect doubling buying power.

(The City Market has taken EBT cards for a year, but without the matching funds until now.)

Advocates say the new program will help address the unhealthy side effects of urban "food deserts" - areas where low-income people have no access to traditional grocery stores.

"You can't choose healthy food if you don't have access to it," said Mari Gallagher, principal of the Chicago-based Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, which has researched food deserts across the country.

People tend to buy food from the places that are most convenient, whether there are healthy options or not, Gallagher said.

"People almost always turn to the food around them," she said, "even if they think, 'Oh, tomorrow I'll head out to the grocery store.' "

It's hard to pinpoint exactly how many people are living in these food deserts without studying each location in depth, she said. In Detroit, Gallagher's firm studied 50,000 city blocks. They found that at least half a million of the city's nearly 1 million residents are living in a food desert. In Chicago, more than 600,000 of the city's nearly 3 million are living in food deserts.

At least 13,000 low-income individuals in Wyandotte County and at least 37,000 in Jackson County live a mile or more away from the nearest grocery store, according to the Food Environment Atlas, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"It's a real challenge," said Jenn Brockman, a consultant with the Beans and Greens program. "They need to buy food, but where do they get it?"

Brockman said she hopes the new program will encourage people to bypass gas stations, convenience stores and fast-food chains for fresh fruits and vegetables at the farmers markets.