The Crossroads Farmers Market has always garnered attention – from the local and federal governments and from the media. Its Fresh Checks program and overall philosophy just seem to pull them. Now, USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon has requested a visit. Concannon, who serves as secretary of food, nutrition, and consumer services, will be at [...]
We received this letter that Bernie Prince, co-founder of FRESHFARM Market, sent to Dr. Pierre Vigilance of DC’s Department of Health earlier this week.
Ms. Prince notes that the new WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher Program — which enables low-income mothers to redeem food assistance coupons at farmers markets — is currently limited by a registration process that hampers farmer participation. As reported here recently, farmers had only one opportunity (this past Wednesday) to train and register to accept WIC vouchers. Ms. Prince notes that there are other options to increase community participation in this promising program.
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March 9, 2010
Dr. Pierre Vigilance
D.C. Department of Health
Washington, D.C.
Dear Dr. Vigilance:
I am writing to you on behalf of WIC recipients in Washington, D.C. and Maryland to urge you to expand access to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables for low-income families. At FRESHFARM Markets, we were pleased to learn that D.C. will authorize market vendors to accept WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Value Voucher coupons (FVC). We applaud you for participating in this new program, and appreciate the District’s continued participation in the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP).
Unfortunately, based on feedback from farmers, we are concerned that the new FVC program will not reach its full potential here. One major hurdle is the training to participate. As you may be aware, there is currently one training session available, on March 10, in Greenbelt, MD. The training runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will require a two- to three-hour drive for many of our market farmers. The very same training for farmers market producers in Maryland covers all the necessary material in about one hour. In addition, while D.C. WIC farmers market coordinator Sabrina Lewis has scheduled just one training, James Butler, of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is planning multiple training sessions on 13 different dates in Greenbelt, Annapolis, Hagerstown, Baltimore, and Denton.
Based on a preliminary survey of farmers and our own experience, Maryland’s approach will significantly increase farmer participation. A member of the group DC Food for All, Daniel White, has conducted interviews with four of the farms that are most ubiquitous at markets within the District. One resounding finding: Farmers will not take part in a new or existing WIC program if it requires a large time investment and small earnings. The current training opportunities, in addition to other complaints such as the complex process of using WIC checks and delays in reimbursement, could limit the number of farmers willing to sell to low-income mothers.
I believe there is a simple step you can take to improve farmer participation in the WIC programs at farmers markets. Maryland and D.C. could craft an agreement to accept training for the FVC and FMNP across District and state lines.
In a previous post, we explored a new Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program that helps low-income mothers buy more fresh produce at farmers markets. The new coupons are known as WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Value Vouchers, or FVC. This second post in the series looks at benefits of a similar nutrition assistance program already in place–the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP)–and yet more stumbling blocks in implementation of such programs.
First, the good news.
According to a report by the Community Food Security Coalition based on USDA numbers, 2.3 million WIC participants received farmers market benefits in 2008, spending about $20 million. During that year, 16,016 farmers and 3,367 farmers markets were authorized to accept FMNP coupons. The USDA awarded grants to each state, amounting to $301,302 for D.C. in 2009, while Maryland received $341,338 (Virginia received $291,212 in 2008, but declined to participate last year).
Also according to the report, evaluation of the program in Washington state showed that WIC recipients who used vouchers increased their knowledge and consumption of fruits and vegetables, and planned to keep coming to farmers markets in the future. Several D.C.-area markets–including the Crossroads market in Takoma Park and three of the markets run by FRESHFARM Markets–established very popular grant-funded “double dollar” programs, which matched the value of vouchers, increasing shoppers’ buying power and farmers’ income.
This works out for everyone–at least until bureaucracy or lack of participation get in the way.
Liz Falk, the former manager of WIC and food stamp programs for FRESHFARM Markets, says she saw very little in the way of advertising for the WIC FMNP. D.C.’s WIC administrators and the Department of Health could not — or would not — devote much funding to develop and distribute marketing materials, and different agencies were reluctant even to add each others’ information to existing materials. The situation will likely hold true for the FVC program.
More worrisome still: Falk says that “red tape is covering so much of what’s possible with these programs.”
The program’s certification process itself is problematic. As our first post mentioned, D.C. offers just one training for farmers who want to participate in the WIC FMNP, Senior FMNP, and FVC programs. (It’s set for this Wednesday, March 10 in Greenbelt, MD, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
By contrast Maryland offers multiple trainings on 13 different dates in Greenbelt, Annapolis, Hagerstown, Baltimore, and Denton. Each lasts an hour–from 10 to 11 a.m. or 1 to 2 p.m.
A revamped Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program — which provides low-income single mothers with cash value vouchers good for fruits and vegetables — will soon include a farmers market component. This is a promising opportunity.
But the program is currently designed in ways that will create tension with recipients, farmers, and administrators.
As of October 1, 2009, the USDA required all states to implement the new WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP). Through FMNP, WIC recipients can use the $6 to $15 monthly Fruit and Vegetable Cash Value Vouchers (or CVVs) just like cash to purchase a wide range of produce (PDF). (Check out a nice, clear explanation of the benefits here). The revised program will increase the voucher value for pregnant, breastfeeding, and partially breastfeeding women from $8 to $10 per month. And when the new market season rolls around, recipients can also use the vouchers at farmers markets. The previous WIC program, by contrast, provided only $30 worth of coupons for the entire May-through-November market season. It’s a significant increase.
But each state has the choice of whether to train and authorize farmers to accept those CVVs. Both Maryland and D.C. have opted in to the program. Virginia, on the other hand, recently canceled it.
Maryland has given the program every chance to succeed by including a variety of training options for farmers (including at market, and using trainers who have worked extensively with farmers market vendors). It will be pretty easy for farmers to become registered for the program, as the state will provide multiple trainings in different locations — and each only an hour-long.
D.C.’s Department of Health, by contrast, will offer only one training (on March 10th). It’s an all day training, and it’s in Greenbelt, MD.
The arrangement has raised concerns among market coordinators and healthy food advocates alike. This is a program with proven positive results for both WIC recipients and farmers, and yet for farmers to participate in the District, they have only one chance to attend all-day training — in the middle of a critical season.
The District has other options for facilitating participation in the program. For instance, Maryland will recognize the registration of farmers who undergo the D.C. training — freeing farmers up to sell across state and district lines. As of now, D.C. has expressed no such interest in a reciprocal arrangement.
