For many, farmers markets aren't a SNAP

For many, farmers markets aren't a SNAP

MUNCIE -- Overweight? Looking to lose some of that excess poundage?

Forget the fad diet where you eat nothing but chocolate pudding and walnuts. What you need is a farmers market.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actually counting on farmers markets to help fight obesity in adults and children.

Trouble is, while the number of Indiana farmers markets is increasing, access for low-income people and families is currently limited.
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Bloomington is the only Farmers Market in the state authorized to accept food stamps (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP).

"It would be great to get fresh fruits and veggies out to everyone, but we applied for a (federal) grant to get funding for EBT and did not get the grant," said Camellia Eckert, manager of the Minnetrista Farmers Market. "We needed the funding to help pay for manpower and other expenses."

EBT stands for Electronic Benefit Transfer. With EBT, Indiana no longer issues paper food stamp coupons or checks. Instead, recipients receive a plastic debit card called a Hoosier Works Card that is similar to an ATM or debit card.

Sixty-four percent of Hoosier adults and 29 percent of Indiana high school students are either overweight or obese.

The CDC's obesity prevention strategy calls for more physical activity, more fruits and vegetables, more breastfeeding, less fast food, less sugar-sweetened beverages and less time in front of the television.

"A diet high in fruits and vegetables is important for optimal child growth, management of weight and prevention of chronic diseases," Laura Hormuth, a nutrition coordinator for the Indiana State Department of Health, said during the recent Indiana Horticultural Congress in Indianapolis. "They are high in fiber content and water and low in calories."

Very few Americans consume the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables -- eight to 13 half-cup servings a day, she said.

But if they did, what better way to get fresh produce than a farmers market? While SNAP families can buy canned or fresh fruit and vegetables in grocery stores, Hormuth thinks those items are often not as fresh or flavorful as those found in farmers markets.

However, there is a cost for farmers markets and vendors to operate the electronic readers through which EBT cards are run. The state is making 20 of the devices available to farmers markets for free.

Low-income pregnant and postpartum women, as well as their infants and children up to age five, can shop at Minnetrista with government WIC (Women, Infants and Children) vouchers. Low-income seniors older than 60 also can shop at the market with government vouchers.

But that still leaves a large number of low-income Hoosiers over the age of five and under the age of 60 who cannot spend their food stamps at the market.

"There are a lot of families on food stamps in this economy," Hormuth said.