Marigold Market among the farmers markets working to make fresh produce more accessible

Lydia Engelsen walked under the oaks of Pittard Park and pulled out eggs, green beans and jams from her boxes, writing their names and prices on small chalkboards.

Engelson is a certified organically grown farmer from Danielsville, Georgia. She made a weekly trek with her produce to Marigold Market, a small farmers market located in Winterville, over 33 weeks in 2021.

The market, which provides produce, baked goods and crafts, grew from a few vendors on its opening day on May 1, 2021, to more than 20 vendors, said Sherri Anderson, the market manager.

But Marigold Market, which opened in early April for the 2022 season, is part of something bigger.

Marigold Market partners with Wholesome Wave Georgia, an Atlanta-based nonprofit working to combat food insecurity, childhood and adult obesity, and diet-related illnesses by bringing fresh produce into communities through its Georgia Fresh for Less program.

“It’s really exciting that more people are coming since we started. It’s fun to talk to everyone,” said Engelsen, standing behind her booth of veggies on the second Saturday of October, before the market closed in December for the year.

The program matches SNAP benefits so families can spend double on healthy food, said Alex Duncan, manager of the Georgia Fresh for Less program. It incentivizes families to explore healthier options at farmers markets and produce stands.

“There's pretty clear research now that food insecurity is associated with increased risk for obesity,” said Sina Gallo, dietician and nutrition professor at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences.

Healthy food access is crucial to prevent chronic disease in low-income families, particularly minority communities, Gallo said, and state and national nutrition programs can increase access to fruits and vegetables compared to unhealthy foods.

Bringing Healthy food to Low-Income Georgians

Duncan has spent seven years working in food systems and joined the Wholesome Wave Georgia team in August 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the opportunity to have a positive impact on the food system and provide choice to the community drew her to the program.

“This work feels meaningful and impactful every day,” she said.

Despite supply chain challenges and an increased number of Georgians relying on support during the COVID-19 pandemic, Duncan has worked to expand the Georgia Fresh for Less program, targeting northeast and south Georgia. When looking for markets to include in the group’s network, Duncan said she looks for two things.

The program looks for markets selling a majority of SNAP-eligible items, such as fruits and vegetables, and those selling produce vendors grow themselves to “ensure that we are reinvesting into Georgia’s local economies,” Duncan said.

According to Wholesome Wave’s 2020 annual report, the most recent data available, 68 local farms, farmers markets and community health care providers were Fresh for Less partners. That year, the organization reported seeing a 56% increase in the number of families doubling their SNAP benefits.

Getting the word out

While expanding to new communities and recruiting new vendors is a start, families need to know where they can double their funds.

That’s been an issue for Marigold Market.

“It is just such an obstacle of getting it out there to the community, to the people who can use it,” Anderson said. “We want to include everyone here at our market, but how do we get them to come?”

Athens-Clarke County’s under-utilization of SNAP funds is one setback to Marigold’s Fresh for Less programming. According to state data, nearly 15,000 ACC residents received SNAP benefits every month during fiscal year 2020. But Sarah Moore, Wholesome Wave’s SNAP connection program manager, said more Georgians are eligible for SNAP benefits than take advantage of the program. She added that people can be working full-time and still be eligible.

SNAP funds, which the Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Child Services manages, are underutilized for many reasons, Moore said. One is documentation requirements. The application process requires proof of identification for the applicant and all household members, as well as proof of residence and household expenses.

People can submit their name, address, phone number and signature to start their application, but the Georgia DHS advises people to fill out their applications as extensively as possible to make the process faster.

Supply chain issues increase farmers markets incentives

The burden doesn’t end with documents. Even with more locations accepting SNAP and more benefit-matching opportunities, are farmers markets prices worth the visit?

A SNAP user since she fell ill with a disease similar to ALS five years ago that has now put her in a wheelchair, Kim, who did not want her last name used, said farmers markets are overpriced. As a vegetarian who relies on fresh produce for much of her diet, she shops for produce often with her SNAP benefits.

“I felt like I’d visited a club that I could not and would not ever join,” Kim said during a Facebook Messenger exchange. “Prices were very high.”

But farmers markets have become a valuable resource to get fresh produce as the pandemic continues to put pressure on a supply chain struggling to meet demand.

According to Wholesome Wave’s 2020 annual report, customers reported shopping at local markets more often during the pandemic, increasing foot traffic for farmers markets across the state.

A $36 per month increase in federal SNAP benefits that took effect in October 2021 will help SNAP users stay ahead of the supply barriers as Wholesome Wave continues to form farm to table supply lines, Duncan said. The price matching offered by the Georgia Fresh for Less program can make the benefits increase go even further.

Increased attendance at farmers markets also helps the vendors who have struggled over the past two years. Marigold Market has grown throughout the pandemic, making vendors like Engelsen hopeful for future weekends.

“I’m a farmer but I’m also a teacher,” Engelsen said. “A lot of people don’t see rutabaga or brown eggs in the grocery store.”

This story is written by students in the Covering Poverty project, which is part of the Cox Institute’s Journalism Writing Lab at the University of Georgia, and the Health and Medical Journalism graduate program at UGA.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Winterville farmers market uses partnerships to make produce accessible