National Farmers Market Week is August 3rd-9th and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources is encouraging people visit the nearest of the 37 farmers markets in the state. The state is also working on a way to make these markets more accessible to lower income residents.
Quest cards are the state of Alaska’s food stamp program. They work like debit cards that participants can use for food at most grocery stores. Public health nutritionist with the State of Alaska Diane Peck says the Department of Natural Resources is pushing to create an easy way for farmers markets to accept Quest cards.
“I work with the state of Alaska Obesity prevention and control program. And we’re helping farmers be able to accept that Quest card so that low income Alaskans can use their food stamps to buy healthy local foods at farmers markets.”
Peck says when food stamps were literally paper stamps, it was easy for low income residents to use those at the farmers markets. However, now with the Electric Benefit Transfer cards, not all farmers markets accept cards.
“We provide these mini grants to farmers markets or some farm stands throughout the state of Alaska so that they can purchase the EBT machine to be able to accept the Quest card. We also help to provide some funding for them to have a staff person at some of these larger markets. They need someone who can be there at the machine and helping Quest customers. Purchasing things like tokens and paper receipts that come with the machine. And finally we have an incentive program and so the funds help to cover the cost of the incentive program.”
The incentive program will double the participants money for the first $20 they spend using the food stamp benefits.
Peck says the Quest program has two goals in widening its availability to farmers markets.
“The first goal is to help make local foods more available and more accessible for low income Alaskans because they are extremely healthy, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. And the second goal of the program is to bring more money to the farmers markets. A Quest customer would have shopped probably at a grocery store and that money typically goes out of the state. Whereas you shop with a farmer or a local vendor, that money is going to stay in the state.”
Some of the eligible produce items that are available at farmers markets include eggs, meat, vegetables, fruits, fish, bread, honey and jam. However, the program does not currently have a plan to extend out to Dillingham.