Use of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the Flint Farmers' Market has increased dramatically since 2011, going from just under $65,000 a year to nearly $140,000.
That lines up with what researchers analyzing double bucks programs in Michigan and elsewhere are finding.
"In low-income communities, we find that access and affordability are cited [by residents] as the two biggest barriers to having more healthy food," says Oran Hesterman, president of the Fair Food Network, who's overseen the group's Double Up Food Bucks program since its inception in 2009. But, he adds, "the desire for healthy food is not limited by income or ZIP code."
An increasing number of shoppers also used the market for general groceries, with 20 percent reporting that as a reason for coming to the market in 2015, compared with 14 percent in 2011.
Produce photo: freeimages.com
Double Up Food Bucks logo: courtesy of the Fair Food Network.
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