Voucher program expands access at Franklin Farmers Market

At the Franklin Farmers Market, shoppers in search of healthy food can find a bounty from area farmers.

Brightly colored produce, lean cuts of meat, locally made cheese and bread and honey — the market connects consumers directly with the people growing and raising our food.

With a new initiative starting at the farmers market this year, families in need can increase their spending power and access even more quality food.

Franklin Market Money provides vouchers worth up to eligible families to buy meat, eggs, cheese, fruits, vegetables, plants and herbs at the farmers market. The Johnson County Local Food Council, together with the Johnson County WIC and Purdue Extension Johnson County, will provide the vouchers, using a grant from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to increase access to nutritious food.

Not only will eligible local residents have better access to this food, but the program adds income to area farmers, said Tracy Smith, coordinator for Johnson County WIC.

“They’re getting a lot more fresh food and bang for their buck when they shop,” she said. “And the farmers and vendors get more customers as well.”

The Johnson County Local Food Council is an organization dedicated to improving access to healthy, affordable food that supports the local community. They achieve that through nutrition education, fostering outreach and developing mutually beneficial, strategic relationships between growers, businesses and local residents.

“We thought how we can do that in Johnson County, and this is one way to do that,” said Sarah Hanson, county extension director. “We can give shoppers essentially free money, and they can buy from local farmers. They’re getting local food back in their house, and the farmers are getting the profit and new consumers.”

Earlier this year, the council received a Local Food Council Development grant worth $3,500 from Indiana Grown, a program of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture that helps promote and develop Hoosier-grown products.

One of the goals of that grant was to implement a nutrition incentive program, said Erin Slevin, community wellness coordinator for Purdue Extension Johnson County.

“Farmers markets are the ideal place where creating community seems to just happen, and it allows our local food system to thrive and grow. That’s one of the big goals of the food council to create those relationships in the county,” she said.

WIC, a supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, has had a farmers market program for many years. Eligible families are provided direct funding to use at the market, starting in August and available to use until the end of the market season in October. That program only allows recipients to spend the money provided on fruits and vegetables, Smith said.

The Market Money initiative is more expansive than the WIC farmers market. Participants can use the vouchers from June 4 to July 16, and spend them on a wider range of products.

“There’s not as much restrictions. Our funding comes from (the U.S. Department of Agriculture), so the farmers market checks can only be used on fruits and vegetables,” Smith said. “The Market Money can be used on other local things that farmers would grow, sell or make.”

Market Money does have restrictions; people can’t buy cakes, cookies, dog treats or anything non-edible such as soaps, lotions and candles, Smith said. Still, they have more flexibility to pick nutritious food.

The program is open to families already enrolled in WIC. When those families come to the Franklin Farmers Market, they can come to the food council’s booth. Staff members will confirm in their computer system that they are eligible, and provided with vouchers — $8 each, and every eligible family member can claim up to three, worth a total of $24.

“We have found that if you are actually at the market and you get the vouchers, you turn around and use it right then. In the past, if we hand them out at our office, they’d file them away or forget about them, and not always use them,” Smith said. “If you get them at the venue, they’re more apt to use that money.”

Farmers and producers will then be reimbursed for those vouchers in a matter of days by Purdue Extension Johnson County.

For this summer, Market Money is available only at the Franklin Farmers Market as a pilot program, Slevin said. But if it is successful, the potential to expand is there.

“I wish we could do it with all of the markets in the county,” Slevin said. “But we’ll see how it goes, and maybe look for funding to make it sustainable.”