- See more at: http://blogtimenow.com/blogging/automatically-redirect-blogger-blog-another-blog-website/#sthash.Q6qPkwFC.dpuf Food Stamp Use at Farmers Markets Doubled This Year | Bronx News Networkbronx

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Food Stamp Use at Farmers Markets Doubled This Year


The City Council announced yesterday that the number of low-income New Yorkers using food stamps at the city's outdoor greenmarkets is higher than ever before. Residents spent over $500,000 in food stamps to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at the markets last year, double the amount spent in 2009.

City politicians and food advocacy groups have been campaigning for more greenmarkets to accept food stamps, seeing it as one way to increase access to healthy foods in neighborhoods where they're usually hard to find. This fall, the greenmarkets at Bronx Borough Hall, Lincoln Hospital, the New York Botanical Garden and Poe Park all accepted EBT card purchases--at Poe Park, over $500 a day came in via food stamps.

Local markets will open up again this spring and summer, though there are several in Manhattan that operate year-round. Locations and schedules can be found here.

2 comments:

  1. Is the woman in the picture actually paying with foodstsamps? Or did you just choose the picture because she is black and it fits the stereotype of who would use foodstamps at a green market? Pretty narrow-minded.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The photo was simply one we had on file that featured an outdoor greenmarket--there was no other implication behind it.

    ReplyDelete

Bronx News Network reserves the right to remove comments that include personal attacks, name calling, foul language, commercial advertisements, spam, or any language that might be considered threatening, libelous or inciting hate.

User comments are reviewed by BxNN staff and may be included or excluded at our discretion.

If what you have to say is unrelated to this particular post, please visit our readers' forum.