Learn more about the Guide Site at www.farmdirectincentives.guide.

The mission of Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) is “to strengthen farmers markets for the benefit of farmers, consumers, and communities.” FMC acknowledges that in order for this mission to be successful, farmers markets must be accessible to all community members regardless of income. One way we work towards this goal is to advocate for the use of Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) and nutrition incentive programs that increase the purchasing power of shoppers at farmers markets. 

As a subject matter expert on SNAP and nutrition incentives in farmers market setting, FMC has served as a facilitator for government grants and contracts. From 2013-2017, FMC administered the USDA Food and Nutrition Service SNAP EBT Equipment Program which equipped 1,771 farmers markets and farm direct retailers with no-cost wireless SNAP EBT processors.

We have an extensive history of advocating for nutrition incentives by developing tools and training materials including:


 

In 2019, FMC became a proud partner of the Nutrition Incentive Hub. Funded by the USDA, the Nutrition Incentive Hub is a coalition of partners, created by the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) National Training, Technical Assistance, Evaluation, and Information Center (NTAE) that supports nutrition incentive and produce prescription projects. The Hub was created to support active Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) grantees. 

The Nutrition Incentive Hub is led by Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition in partnership with Fair Food Network, along with a coalition of evaluators, researchers, practitioners, and grocery and farmers market experts dedicated to strengthening and uniting the best thinking in the field to increase access to affordable, healthy food to those who need it most. Learn more about the core partners of the the Nutrition Incentive Hub.

The main objective of the Nutrition Incentive Hub is to strengthen access to fruits and vegetables.

FMC leads training, technical assistance, and innovation for grantees working with farm direct outlets (farmers markets, farm stands, and CSA programs) in collaboration with the Ecology Center and Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA).

The Farm Direct Team collaborates to provide the following support to nutrition incentive programs in farm direct settings:

  • Engaging and informative webinars from leaders and innovators in the nutrition incentive field 
  • 1-1 technical assistance to active GusNIP grantees and active applicants (submit a TA request here) 
  • Practitioner papers
  • Communities of practice facilitation
  • Aggregated resources for nutrition incentive programs
  • Advocacy and expertise around EBT and Nutrition Incentive Technology 
  • Curriculum that provides basic knowledge needed to administer nutrition incentive programs

What we’ve been up to:

Let’s Connect:

The NTAE is supported by Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Grant Program grant number 2019-70030-30415 project accession number 1020863 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.