Farmers Market To Start Accepting Food Stamps

(Sept. 28, 2012) Jackson, TN - The West Tennessee Farmers' Market has received a grant that will enable food stamp recipients to use their allocation to purchase food products. Customers will bring their verification cards to the market office to have them swiped and then be given custom-made tokens. They will take the tokens to the vendors and buy their produce. The vendors will then be reimbursed. The program will begin next spring.

This grant will allow the market to buy tokens, obtain a swiping machine, install a phone line, and purchase a new computer and a printer. It will also provide funding for advertisement and training. The West Tennessee Farmers' Market was selected by the Agricultural Marketing Service to receive federal funding for the project under the 2012 Farmers’ Market Promotion Program (FMPP) grant program.

Mayor Gist stated, "This allows so many well-deserving people, who have lost their jobs due to our economy, to buy healthy, inexpensive food. It is estimated that 46 million people nationwide, about one in seven, receive this benefit."

Also, the market has received notification that it was awarded "The Best of Tennessee Reader's Choice Award," for being the best farmers' market in West Tennessee again this year.