(Photo: Shopping at the Dallas Farmers Market, where beginning tomorrow, June 8, users will be able to use Debit, Credit, and Lone Star Cards to shop for fresh produce)     

By Minnie Payne     

Beginning tomorrow, the Dallas Farmers market will become significantly more accessible to low-income families. Yet the change doesn't stop there. All told, Dallas Ft. Worth area farmers markets have increasing opportunities to provide fresh healthy options to shoppers of all incomes, making organic produce more available to anyone interested in living greener and eating healthier foods.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funds the nation’s largest nutritional assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the Food Stamp Program).  SNAP benefits are funded by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and issued by individual states and redeemable at any authorized SNAP retailer. 

In recent years, the USDA has focused on the accessibility of farmers markets for food stamp users.  As a result, the USDA requested $4 million to expand SNAP so that farmers markets can purchase Electronic Benefit Transfer machines (EBTs) through which food stamp users can swipe their EBT cards.  SNAP customers swipe their EBT cards (known as Lone Star Cards throughout Texas) at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal in exchange for paper certificates, tokens, or receipts, which are then used to buy eligible food products. 

A Food and Nutrition Service license is required for operating one of the machines, and so the service has now allowed markets to obtain a single license for all eligible vendors at the market.  Following on these new developments, farmers markets can now offer either SNAP only, SNAP and debit services or SNAP, debit, and credit.  In addition the FNS requires farmers markets, farm stands, etc. to have access to free wired EBT machines.

Farmers markets who adopt EBT technology to accept SNAP benefits can tap into a large customer base by providing an easy and convenient way for consumers to redeem SNAP benefits on eligible foods. Vendors selling eligible food items have the potential for increased sales from SNAP redemptions. 

From 2008 to 2009, the total value of SNAP redemptions at farmers markets and farm stands nearly doubled, from over $2 million to over $4 million. These technologies allow markets that normally accept only cash to accept bank-issued debit and credit cards. 

Oftentimes low-income families don’t have access to adequate grocery stores and public transportation, thus they may be deprived of healthy foods.  By implementing this new program, SNAP is hopeful that low-income families will be exposed to fresh healthy food.

So what's the local picture regarding availability of fresh produce for Lone Star Card users and low-income families? Sarah Perry, director of the popular White Rock Local Market, says that that market now has a machine that accepts the cards. Meanwhile Debbie Bozeman, President of the Dallas Farmers Market Friends, states that starting June 8, 2012, the Dallas Farmers Market will also accept the cards.

“A customer will simply approach the POS terminal, enter their pen number into the EBT machine and ask for the dollar amount of tokens they wish,” Bozeman advises.  “The customer will take the tokens to the farmer to purchase locally grown fresh fruit, vegetables, honey, etc.  At the end of the day the farmer brings the tokens to the POS terminal and exchanges them for money.”

Says Bozeman, “The Dallas Farmers Market is the closest place to buy fresh fruit and vegetables in the South Dallas area,” she says.  The hope is that these programs will help to bring more of those fresh fruits and vegetables to the tables of low-income families throughout North Texas, benefitting public health and helping everyone to live more green.


Minnie Payne is the food reporter for Green Source DFW, focusing on DFW stories that include agriculture, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, sustainable wines, green grocers, community gardens, green restaurants, etc. She’s open to all food story suggestions from readers. She was a writer for Pegasus News and presently freelances for Living Magazine and Frisco Style Magazine. She can be reached atjdpmap@verizon.net