Vilsack announces groundbreaking SNAP fruit and vegetable program
September 29, 2014 | 06:40 PM
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a $31.5 million food stamp fruit and vegetable program that breaks new ground in government assistance to make it cheaper for low income people to buy produce.
“Helping families purchase more fresh produce is clearly good for families’ health, helps contribute to lower health costs for the country, and increases local food sales for family farmers,” Vilsack said in a news release timed to his announcement at the George Washington Carver Elementary School in Richmond, Va., in the company of Dorothy McAuliffe, wife of Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Vilsack also toured the Virginia State Fair in Doswell with the McAuliffes and announced another $52 million in grants for local, regional and organic agriculture and for farmers markets. (See story below.)
The grants to help beneficiaries of the food stamp program — formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP — gain more access to fruits and vegetables will come through the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program (FINI) was established by the 2014 farm bill.
FINI has a total of $100 million over five years to be awarded to groups that come up with relatively small pilot projects, multi-year community-based projects, or larger-scale multi-year projects that can help low income people gain access to more fruits and vegetables. It was inspired by the “double bucks” programs operated by Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut-based group, and the Fair Food Network in Michigan to help SNAP beneficiaries buy twice as many locally produced fruits and vegetables.
Those programs are mostly foundation-funded and focused on farmers’ markets, but FINI will allow other providers including grocery stores to participate.
The program is popular among small-farm groups, better nutrition and anti-obesity advocates and the fruit and vegetable industry. But it does pose new questions for federal nutrition programs because it shows a preference for one type of food for SNAP beneficiaries and could provide assistance for low-income people to buy fruits and vegetables at lower prices in venues other than farmers markets.
“Many in the farmers' market world think grocery stores should not be allowed to apply, and independently-owned grocers are afraid Walmart will suck up all the money,” said one consultant on food insecurity.
“Specialty crop farmers think the incentives should only be for fresh produce, and public health advocates think that's silly — it should be for all forms of produce as long as they don't have added salt and sugar. And some in the anti-hunger world are afraid it's the thin end of the wedge and restrictions on what one can buy with SNAP will be next.”
Jim Weill
Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, which takes the position that food stamp beneficiaries should be the ones to decide what food to buy, noted the value of the grants rather than the produce in his statement.
“FRAC applauds USDA for its prompt implementation of the farm bill grant initiative to help make food more affordable for struggling households,” Weill said.
“Addressing the widely recognized inadequacy of SNAP monthly benefit levels will be key to achieving food security and better nutritional health in the U.S.,” Weill said. “The grants are a positive step in that direction.”
Lorelei DiSogra
“United Fresh is very excited that the FINI [request for proposal] is out,” said Lorelei DiSogra, the nutrition director for the United Fresh Produce Association.
“We are encouraging our retail grocery members who operate grocery stores in underserved communities to partner with their state SNAP agency and apply for a FINI grant,” DiSogra said. “As Double Up Food Bucks has demonstrated, produce incentives work. They help SNAP families increase their consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and will improve nutrition for SNAP families.”
“Since 85 percent of all SNAP benefits are redeemed at grocery stores, we believe that scaling up produce incentives to grocery will have the greatest public health reach and increase access to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables year round,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the Fair Food Network, a Michigan group that has already used foundation money to partner with the Spartan Nash grocery chain for a double bucks program, said “We are off to the races in readying our application.”
Michel Nischan
Michel Nischan, the founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, said, “The new Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program represents an incredible opportunity for the millions of Americans who struggle to put healthy food on their tables, local and regional producers, as well as organizations running incentive programs.
“We are thrilled to see our government and the USDA placing an emphasis on making healthy produce affordable for everyone, while simultaneously supporting small and mid-sized farms,” Nischan said.
Nischan also noted that Vilsack had announced grants that directly benefit local farmers and farmers markets, including one for Wholesome Wave to pilot a new enterprise that will network local food hubs across New England to fulfill large volume orders of local fruits and vegetables for institutions such as hospitals.
“Helping families purchase more fresh produce is clearly good for families’ health, helps contribute to lower health costs for the country, and increases local food sales for family farmers,” Vilsack said in a news release timed to his announcement at the George Washington Carver Elementary School in Richmond, Va., in the company of Dorothy McAuliffe, wife of Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Vilsack also toured the Virginia State Fair in Doswell with the McAuliffes and announced another $52 million in grants for local, regional and organic agriculture and for farmers markets. (See story below.)
The grants to help beneficiaries of the food stamp program — formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP — gain more access to fruits and vegetables will come through the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program (FINI) was established by the 2014 farm bill.
FINI has a total of $100 million over five years to be awarded to groups that come up with relatively small pilot projects, multi-year community-based projects, or larger-scale multi-year projects that can help low income people gain access to more fruits and vegetables. It was inspired by the “double bucks” programs operated by Wholesome Wave, a Connecticut-based group, and the Fair Food Network in Michigan to help SNAP beneficiaries buy twice as many locally produced fruits and vegetables.
Those programs are mostly foundation-funded and focused on farmers’ markets, but FINI will allow other providers including grocery stores to participate.
The program is popular among small-farm groups, better nutrition and anti-obesity advocates and the fruit and vegetable industry. But it does pose new questions for federal nutrition programs because it shows a preference for one type of food for SNAP beneficiaries and could provide assistance for low-income people to buy fruits and vegetables at lower prices in venues other than farmers markets.
“Many in the farmers' market world think grocery stores should not be allowed to apply, and independently-owned grocers are afraid Walmart will suck up all the money,” said one consultant on food insecurity.
“Specialty crop farmers think the incentives should only be for fresh produce, and public health advocates think that's silly — it should be for all forms of produce as long as they don't have added salt and sugar. And some in the anti-hunger world are afraid it's the thin end of the wedge and restrictions on what one can buy with SNAP will be next.”
Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, which takes the position that food stamp beneficiaries should be the ones to decide what food to buy, noted the value of the grants rather than the produce in his statement.
“FRAC applauds USDA for its prompt implementation of the farm bill grant initiative to help make food more affordable for struggling households,” Weill said.
“Addressing the widely recognized inadequacy of SNAP monthly benefit levels will be key to achieving food security and better nutritional health in the U.S.,” Weill said. “The grants are a positive step in that direction.”
“United Fresh is very excited that the FINI [request for proposal] is out,” said Lorelei DiSogra, the nutrition director for the United Fresh Produce Association.
“We are encouraging our retail grocery members who operate grocery stores in underserved communities to partner with their state SNAP agency and apply for a FINI grant,” DiSogra said. “As Double Up Food Bucks has demonstrated, produce incentives work. They help SNAP families increase their consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and will improve nutrition for SNAP families.”
“Since 85 percent of all SNAP benefits are redeemed at grocery stores, we believe that scaling up produce incentives to grocery will have the greatest public health reach and increase access to a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables year round,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the Fair Food Network, a Michigan group that has already used foundation money to partner with the Spartan Nash grocery chain for a double bucks program, said “We are off to the races in readying our application.”
Michel Nischan, the founder and CEO of Wholesome Wave, said, “The new Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program represents an incredible opportunity for the millions of Americans who struggle to put healthy food on their tables, local and regional producers, as well as organizations running incentive programs.
“We are thrilled to see our government and the USDA placing an emphasis on making healthy produce affordable for everyone, while simultaneously supporting small and mid-sized farms,” Nischan said.
Nischan also noted that Vilsack had announced grants that directly benefit local farmers and farmers markets, including one for Wholesome Wave to pilot a new enterprise that will network local food hubs across New England to fulfill large volume orders of local fruits and vegetables for institutions such as hospitals.
