Markets see more food stamps

Article by: MARY JANE SMETANKA , Star Tribune
Updated: December 14, 2011 - 9:19 PM

Minnesota's farmers markets are reaching more low-income customers, but barriers remain.

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gmamonkDec. 15, 11 5:29 AM

I thought fresh fruits and vegetables were too expensive in the grocery stores for ebt card users, I have found the fresh foods at Farmers Markets to be more expensive than in the grocery stores~~fresher, maybe and tastier but much of the time out of my budget and I am not a recipient of the SNAP program~~~

viktorvaughnDec. 16, 1111:22 AM

"I thought fresh fruits and vegetables were too expensive in the grocery stores for ebt card users, I have found the fresh foods at Farmers Markets to be more expensive than in the grocery stores"

It's true that a consumer trying to maximize the calories per dollar will gravitate towards heavily subsidized processed food rather than fresh healthy food in a grocery store. But another problem is many low-income neighborhoods don't even have stores that sell fresh foods at all, so farmers markets are filling this gap.

While sometimes fresh food is more expensive at the farmers market, when produce is in season it is often much cheaper at the market than the grocery store.