MONROE - Food stamp recipients can now use their benefits cards to buy groceries at the Monroe Farmers Market.
The new program targets the roughly 11 percent of Green County residents who receive a monthly FoodShare allowance through Wisconsin's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Similar programs are already in place in Madison, Janesville and elsewhere.
The numbers fluctuate month to month, but the latest data from the end of June shows that 3,942 county residents received SNAP benefits, according to Mark Nelson, economic support supervisor at Green County Human Services. In 2014, benefits went to 2,845 households countywide.
A group of Green County Leaders, an educational program through the University of Wisconsin Extension, spearheaded the program as part of a coordinated effort to increase the number of vendors and customers at the Monroe Farmers Market.
The Green County Leaders group wants to make healthy food accessible to more people, said member Tom Miller, a Ward 1 city council member.
An early step in the process was to successfully register the Farmers Market as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, opening up eligibility for federal grants.
Now the group is awaiting the result of their application for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to help them promote the food stamp program with a part-time employee, brochures and advertising.
Last Saturday was the first Farmers Market set up to accept SNAP benefits. Only one customer used it, Miller said. But he added that he's hopeful more will start participating as word of the program spreads.
The set-up is simple. Customers use their SNAP benefits cards, also known as QUEST or EBT cards, at a credit card machine sponsored by Wisconsin Bank and Trust to redeem money from their account for laminated paper tokens that come in $1 and $5 denominations.
"They go to the vendors and use it just like money," Miller says. At the end of the day, vendors get reimbursed.
Food stamp recipients can use their benefits to purchase any food intended to be prepared and eaten at home. This includes breads and cereals, jams and jellies, produce, dairy products, meat, fish and poultry.
Benefits can't be used to purchase any foods prepared on-site or meant to be consumed on-site, such as fried pies or hot hamburgers.
Similar programs are mushrooming across the country. According to the USDA, Wisconsin had 116 SNAP-authorized farmers markets in 2014, up from just six in 2008.
Mayor Bill Ross praised the program in a statement earlier this summer. It's an "alternative to purchasing fruits and vegetables at large incorporated chain stores where produce may not be of the highest quality and more often than not (is) imported from other states or other countries," he wrote.
The city "looks forward to the expansion of the Monroe Farmers Market to provide our area FoodShare clients the opportunity to shop for nutritious and healthy foods alongside their neighbors," Ross wrote.
The new program targets the roughly 11 percent of Green County residents who receive a monthly FoodShare allowance through Wisconsin's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Similar programs are already in place in Madison, Janesville and elsewhere.
The numbers fluctuate month to month, but the latest data from the end of June shows that 3,942 county residents received SNAP benefits, according to Mark Nelson, economic support supervisor at Green County Human Services. In 2014, benefits went to 2,845 households countywide.
A group of Green County Leaders, an educational program through the University of Wisconsin Extension, spearheaded the program as part of a coordinated effort to increase the number of vendors and customers at the Monroe Farmers Market.
The Green County Leaders group wants to make healthy food accessible to more people, said member Tom Miller, a Ward 1 city council member.
An early step in the process was to successfully register the Farmers Market as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, opening up eligibility for federal grants.
Now the group is awaiting the result of their application for a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to help them promote the food stamp program with a part-time employee, brochures and advertising.
Last Saturday was the first Farmers Market set up to accept SNAP benefits. Only one customer used it, Miller said. But he added that he's hopeful more will start participating as word of the program spreads.
The set-up is simple. Customers use their SNAP benefits cards, also known as QUEST or EBT cards, at a credit card machine sponsored by Wisconsin Bank and Trust to redeem money from their account for laminated paper tokens that come in $1 and $5 denominations.
"They go to the vendors and use it just like money," Miller says. At the end of the day, vendors get reimbursed.
Food stamp recipients can use their benefits to purchase any food intended to be prepared and eaten at home. This includes breads and cereals, jams and jellies, produce, dairy products, meat, fish and poultry.
Benefits can't be used to purchase any foods prepared on-site or meant to be consumed on-site, such as fried pies or hot hamburgers.
Similar programs are mushrooming across the country. According to the USDA, Wisconsin had 116 SNAP-authorized farmers markets in 2014, up from just six in 2008.
Mayor Bill Ross praised the program in a statement earlier this summer. It's an "alternative to purchasing fruits and vegetables at large incorporated chain stores where produce may not be of the highest quality and more often than not (is) imported from other states or other countries," he wrote.
The city "looks forward to the expansion of the Monroe Farmers Market to provide our area FoodShare clients the opportunity to shop for nutritious and healthy foods alongside their neighbors," Ross wrote.