Promising Strategies to Improve Access to Fresh, Healthy Food and ...

PolicyLink• limited staff time and resources, which areneeded for operation of POS equipment anddissemination of tokens; and• lack of awareness among SNAP participants thatEBT is accepted at farmers’ markets.Additional barriers may include language orcultural obstacles, limited operating hours,lack of culturally appropriate products, lackof transportation options, and the perceptionof high prices at farmers’ markets. 173Strategies and Policy OptionsLink Farmers with Consumersand Other Farmers• Increase profit margins by sellingto additional markets. A number offarm-to-institution programs that connectfarmers to public schools (see page 59),universities, hospitals, correctional facilities,and restaurants illustrate the viability of thisstrategy. 176 Farm Fresh Choice, run by TheEcology Center, a nonprofit organizationin Berkeley, California, purchases producewholesale and then transports it to afterschoolprograms, where staff resell it tostudents and parents as they arrive to pickup their children. 177 The East Bay Asian YouthCenter (EBAYC) in Oakland, California,operates two School Produce Markets at localelementary schools. These weekly marketsare operated by and for the community,staffed by parents of school students. 178• Establish and support farmers’collaboratives. Farmers can benefit fromworking together. They can share the costsof cold storage facilities, transportation, andmarketing, and advocate for policies that impactfarmers’ markets and their ability to servelow-income communities. Dozens of farmers’market associations have been establishedacross the country that accomplish some orall of these goals. 179 These collaborationsA Key Ingredient for Success:Increasing Demand for Healthy FoodStrategies to increase food retailing located in low-income communities are most successful when partnered with strategiesthat work to increase the ability and desire of consumers to purchase healthier foods. Ensuring that people have thenutritional knowledge to make the right food choices, understand how to prepare healthy meals, and have enough moneyto purchase these foods are important strategies that supplement the food retailing options described in this report. Manyof the case studies we highlight throughout this paper include nutrition education efforts.Increasing the participation of low-income communities in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerlycalled the federal Food Stamp program, is also key to improving access to healthy foods. In the current recession, SNAPparticipation is at an all-time record high—but the advocacy group Food Research and Action Center estimates that one inevery three eligible people is not enrolled in the program. 174 SNAP increases the purchasing power of low-income residents.Because poor residents are clustered in poor neighborhoods, if all of those who were eligible for these benefits tookadvantage of them, their neighborhoods would look more attractive to retailers and could support more stores and otherretail outlets.One example of how strategies to increase purchasing power can lead to improved access to healthy food is theWholesome Wave Foundation’s Double Coupon Program. This program doubles the value of SNAP and farmers’ marketvouchers provided by the federal government, so that food dollars for fresh produce will go twice as far. At one farmers’market that implemented the Double Coupon Program, sales using SNAP benefits jumped 290 percent, benefitting both thefamilies who were able to purchase more healthy food, and local farmers who benefitted from the community’s increasedpurchasing power. 175Healthy Food, Healthy Communities49