NC farmers’ market program running out of money to help low-income families buy food

Chris Veda wouldn’t be able to shop at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market without the Double Bucks program, even though the food he buys there is helping him stay healthy.

The Carrboro resident has medical issues that prevent him from working a regular job, he said, and most grocery stores “have fruits and vegetables that are sprayed, and I am very much allergic to that.”

He hadn’t heard that the Double Bucks program in Durham and Orange counties is low on funding, or that a GoFundMe campaign has been launched in conjunction with National Farmers Market Week, which runs Aug. 4-10.

Losing that program would concern him, Veda said, because market prices are otherwise unaffordable to him and others who use federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The Double Bucks program gives him more buying power.

“It’s a rock and a hard place, where I cannot get a decent job with my medical problems, and I cannot afford to buy food if this cancels out,” Veda said. “It would be a disaster.”

Why is the Double Bucks program in trouble?

The average monthly SNAP benefit hasn’t changed much since 2010, despite a slight increase this year because of significant inflation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports food prices are up nearly 30% since 2014.

The Carrboro Farmers’ Market was among the first in North Carolina to accept SNAP benefits in 2010. The Double Bucks program now helps almost 1,000 lower-income households double their SNAP food dollars at eight farmers’ markets in Durham, Orange and Wake counties. It has been coordinated since 2022 under the umbrella organization, Triangle Double Bucks.

Double Bucks tokens are also available in the summer to hundreds of shoppers using the federal Women, Infants & Children and Farmers Market Nutrition programs, and to WIC and FMNP shoppers and Section 8 housing voucher holders who spend cash year-round.

“We try to be as understanding as possible about the difficulties in this program sometimes, so we’ll offer to walk around with them and help them shop, show them the farmers that accept (tokens),” said Maggie Funkhouser, manager of the Carrboro Farmers’ Market.

The program saw a “huge increase” in families needing help during the pandemic and demand continue to grow, said Nasim Youssefi, a nutrition specialist who works with retailers, farmers’ markets and food pantries through Durham County’s DINE program.

But after several years of support from the Burt’s Bees Foundation, a $1 million grant in 2019 from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and a $185,000 grant in 2023 from Duke University and Duke Health’s Doing Good Employee Giving program, the Double Bucks program in Orange County is running out of money.

Durham County’s markets can keep going through next year with the rest of a $480,395 pandemic-relief county grant, but families in both counties are now limited to $50 per visit to stretch the available dollars. The markets need a major sponsor to keep the program going long term, officials said.

The N.C. Farmers Market Network is also working toward a statewide nutrition incentive program.

“It’s huge knowing that [families are] able to support local farmers, [that] they’re able to experience foods in a different way that might be more fresh and taste different than what they’re used to,” Youssefi said. “Unlike many other Double Bucks programs across the country — and this is part of why getting the funding is so hard — we try to fund it in a way that doesn’t limit what people can get.”

Who does the Double Bucks program support?

▪ Triangle Double Bucks helped 741 families use federal SNAP benefits to buy $248,385 in fresh fruit, local meat and other food from local farmers last year.

▪ Those 3,241 transactions did not include hundreds of shoppers who used other federal benefit programs or the cash match option.

▪ A 2023 survey of 135 shoppers at four Durham and Orange County markets found 63% of households were white, 19% African-American, 12% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 7% other. They ranged in age from 20 to 84 years old.

“One thing I really appreciate about this program is the fact that we’re allowing access to folks that may not have otherwise ever been able to experience a farmers’ market,” Youssefi said.

Where is the program available?

▪ Orange County: Carrboro Farmers’ Market, Chapel Hill Farmers’ Market, Eno River Farmers’ Market in Hillsborough

▪ Durham County: Durham Farmers’ Market, South Durham Farmers’ Market, Black Farmers’ Market, North Durham Farmers’ Market

▪ Wake County: Black Farmers’ Market

How can I support the Double Bucks program?

▪ It costs roughly $200,000 to run the program each year, Youssefi said, with 70% of that going to families.

▪ A fundraising campaign launched this week at gofund.me/ec3aef59 has a $30,000 goal, although market officials said that’s just to support the program through the end of 2024.

▪ The Double Bucks program will need a major sponsor to keep operating in 2025 and beyond, they said.

How does the program work?

▪ Stop at the market information table and tell the staff how much you want to spend from your EBT card or in cash.

▪ Staff members will answer your questions and give you wooden tokens worth twice that amount.

▪ Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks and WIC cards can be spent directly with the vendors, but stop by the market table to get more information and your Double Bucks tokens. Vendors accepting WIC cards can scan the QR code.

What can shoppers buy with Double Bucks?

▪ Baked goods

▪ Fruits and vegetables

▪ Meat and eggs

▪ Plant Starts

▪ No hot foods, personal care products or alcohol

This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 8:00 AM.

Tammy Grubb

The News & Observer

919-829-8926

Tammy Grubb has written about Orange County’s politics, people and government since 2010. She is a UNC-Chapel Hill alumna and has lived and worked in the Triangle for over 30 years.