Collingswood Farmer's Market to take SNAP, addressing food equity and access in suburbs
Theresa Bryant maneuvered her wheelchair to the Virtua Eat Well Mobile Farmer's Market van and got a nice assortment of fruits and vegetables in a brown paper grocery bag. She presented her SNAP card and got ready to return to her apartment the Parkview Towers.
The cost? $4.50, after a 50 percent discount because she receives food assistance. Not bad for 20 pieces of fresh produce.
"It helps, because I can't move around too much," Bryant said. "This is convenient."
The van was parked outside the Collingswood apartment complex, and will be each Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. And if Bryant can't make it, there's another place in the borough where she can now use her SNAP and EBT benefits to buy fresh produce and local food: the Collingswood Farmers Market, which will now accept them as payment.
"This is helping people who need a bit of help," said Collingswood Mayor Jim Maley. He noted how the pandemic laid bare many of the disparities in communities like his, where people struggle with food insecurity but it's less visible.
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Morgan Robinson, a Collingswood commissioner, said that poverty and hunger can impact families and seniors and that access to fresh food benefits individuals and the community.
"We know processed foods create more greenhouse gases, lead to more food waste and contribute to poorer health outcomes," she said.
Farmers markets like Collingswood, too, should be for everyone, not just those who can spend more money on food.
"Our farmers market is a social gathering place, where people can meet their neighbors, talk to each other, listen to music and eat together," she said. "Everyone should feel like part of the community, regardless of income."
Burlington County market kicks off Saturday
At the Burlington County Farmers Market, which kicks off Saturday at the Agricultural Center in Moorestown, Cranberry Hall Farm, based in Cookstown, accepts SNAP payments. County spokesman David Levinsky said all of the farmers market vendors are encouraged to go through the state process allowing them to accept SNAP.
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Eligible seniors in Burlington County can receive $30 vouchers beginning June 1 to get fresh produce at the market as well.
The market boasts more than three dozen farms and vendors, as well as artists, crafters, live music and cooking demonstrations.
Where can I get more information?
The Collingswood Farmers Market takes place near the PATCO Hi-Speedline station Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through Thanksgiving. For more information including a vendor list, visit www.collingswoodmarket.com/#/
Virtua's Eat Well Mobile Farmer's Market will be at Newton Lake Park in Collingswood, as well as other locations throughout Camden and Burlington counties. For a list of times and locations, visit www.virtua.org/about/eat-well/mobile-farmers-market
The Burlington County Farmers Market takes place Saturdays through Nov. 11 from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Agricultural Center, 500 Centerton Road, Moorestown. To obtain an application for a $30 voucher for produce, call 609-265-5069. For more information on the farmers market, visit www.burlcoagcenter.com/farmers-market/
Burlington County has an online directory of farmers markets throughout the county at https://co.burlington.nj.us/1981/Burlington-County-Farm-Markets
Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has called the region home since 1971. Contact her at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @wordsbyPhaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Collingswood Farmer's Market to address food equity, accept SNAP
