Fresh Food For Families program to offer fresh food access to EBT/Snap users

On Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, Second Harvest North Florida kicks off a new “Fresh Food for Families” program at the Jacksonville Farmers Market, with a fair from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. that will offer free information, giveaways and health services to benefit families living in communities neighboring the market.  The kickoff inaugurates the beginning of vendors being able to accept Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards from low-income people to purchase food and plants and seeds to grow food for their households. 

On Nov. 14, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., shoppers at the Jacksonville Farmers Market who present a receipt at Second Harvest’s display table showing that they have used their EBT/SNAP cards to purchase at least $10 worth of fresh food from Jacksonville Farmers Market vendors that day will receive a free bag filled with fresh fall samplings from market vendors.  Also on that Saturday only, in honor of the program’s kickoff, JTA’s Trolley will operate free of charge from 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

At 11 a.m., the program will be formally launched with the help of local community organizations and government leaders such as the State Congress, Mayor’s Office, City Council, New Town Success Zone, The Chartrand Foundation, and Florida Department of Children & Families, Jacksonville Community Council Inc., Jacksonville Farmers Market and Second Harvest.

With funding from The Chartrand Foundation, Fresh Food for Families is the result of months of planning by Second Harvest, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Beaver Street Fisheries, which owns the Jacksonville Farmers Market.  The program addresses issues brought to light in a 2008 Infant Mortality Study produced by Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI), which revealed that babies – especially black babies – are dying in Jacksonville at higher rates than the Florida state average.  Even more unsettling is the fact that Florida’s average is higher than the United States national average, which is higher than nearly all the industrialized countries in the world.  Most notably, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for black mothers in Jacksonville is nearly double the rate for white and Hispanic mothers.

The JCCI planning group identified improving access by low-income families to fresh fruit and vegetables sold by local vendors at the Jacksonville Farmers Market as one significant way to improve the nutritional level and health of low-income families, especially women of childbearing age and their children living in the New Town Success Zone including zip codes 32206, 32208 and 32209. The Jacksonville Farmers Market, located at 1810 W. Beaver Street in zip code 32209, is well located to provide healthy, nutritious food to these families, but, prior to Nov. 14, almost no vendors at the market accept any form of payment other than cash, which prevents low-income people eligible for food stamp benefits from patronizing the market.  Second Harvest worked with interested vendors to sign them up for free wireless point-of-sale terminals and pin pads that enable them to accept EBT, credit and debit cards for purchases. 

Families in the New Town Success Zone live in a “food desert,” where no large, completely stocked grocery stores exist but fast-food and convenience stores selling “fringe food” abound.  Given their limited transportation and income, obtaining food for a healthy well-balanced diet is nearly impossible for them.

“Increasing low-income families’ access to healthy, nutritious food like the fresh food sold by vendors at the Jacksonville Farmers Market is at the heart of Second Harvest’s mission,” Thomas Mantz, Second Harvest North Florida executive director, said.  “We know that improving the quality of food consumed by families improves, in particular, children’s health and chances for future success.  We are grateful to The Chartrand Foundation for funding this creative solution to the issue of hunger in our community.”
The Fresh Food for Families fair and market are open to the general public.  MasterCard, Visa and Discover credit and debit cards, in addition to EBT cards, will be accepted by select Jacksonville Farmers Market vendors whose signage indicates their participation in this new program.