Aliyya Swaby file photo
The Fair Haven CitySeed farmers market.
Low-income New Haveners can still use food stamps to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables at city farmers markets, even though 1,700 other markets around the country are temporarily unable to process government-subsidized payments.
CitySeed, a Grand Avenue-based nonprofit that runs four weekly farmers markets throughout the city each summer, told the Independent that its markets will not be affected by the Austin, Tex. tech company Novo Dia Group’s sudden decision to discontinue a service that processes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) transactions at farmers’ markets throughout the country.
According to this article in the Washington Post, Novo Dia’s Apple-compatible software processes around 40 percent of SNAP transactions at farmers’ markets nationwide. The article says that 1,700 of the more than 7,000 farmers markets that offer SNAP will no longer be able to serve low-income customers.
CitySeed Director of Operations Ashley Kremser said CitySeed’s farmers markets does not use Novo Dia software to process SNAP benefits. Instead it uses software provided by Total Merchant Services.
The way it works, she said, is that SNAP recipients can go to the CitySeed both at any given farmers’ market, swipe their SNAP card at the appropriate machine, and receive wooden tokens which in turn can be used to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables at any of the market’s stands.
CitySeed doubles the value of SNAP benefits up to $10 dollars a day, meaning that food stamp recipients can use $10 in SNAP to purchase $20 in produce at city farmers’ markets each day. Kremser said CitySeed can afford to double SNAP benefits thanks to a combination of grant funding and the nonprofit’s own fundraising.
Even though CitySeed will not be affected by Novo Dia’s sudden shutdown, Kremser said the nonprofit is still worried about national trends working against easy access to fresh produce for low-income people.
“There’s a lot at risk right now for SNAP recipients with the Farm Bill,” she said. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are currently reconciling two versions of the bill that would have disparate impacts on SNAP benefits.
In a recent visit to CitySeed, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said one key difference between the Senate version would allow farmers to certify recipients once for farmers’ markets instead of having them sign up individually, while the House bill could result in two million people losing eligibility for food stamps in part through nationwide requirements for individuals to recertify every 30 days they are working.
Kremser said she is also particularly concerned by Novo Dia’s end of service coming right at the beginning of the summer.
“I think it’s really having an effect, especially during prime farmers’ market season,” she said, “to not be able to provide fresh fruits and vegetables” to low-income customers.
