Northampton farmers markets accept SNAP card

Thanks to grants from the city and other organizations, farmers markets in Northampton are accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program cards, making locally grown produce available to people who otherwise might have difficulty affording it.

The “SNAP” cards, formerly known as food stamps, are inserted into electronic benefit transaction machines that the city’s health department acquired. The SNAP cards are subsidized by grants from the health department and other entities, so that their value is doubled.

Northampton Health Director Ben Wood said the idea of accepting SNAP cards originated with a subcommittee of the city’s Agricultural Commission. The committee, he said, was looking for new ideas to support farmers markets as well as city policies.

The SNAP cards were introduced at one farmers market last year. The Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday markets, as well as the winter market, all now participate.

On July 8, a pilot farmers market opened at Hampshire Heights, the city’s largest public housing complex. The goal of the new market, along with all the markets that were already accepting SNAP cards, is to bring resources to areas of the community that need it most, Wood said.

He said feedback from the community and the media has been positive.

“People are proud to be in a community where healthy food and access to it is a priority,” he said.