Trending at the Market: WIC Cash Value Vouchers

by Emily Finn, Research & Education Intern The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) aims to improve access to nutritious foods for low-income pregnant women, mothers, and young children. The number of WIC participants has held steadily around 9 million from 2008-2012. After enrolling in WIC, participants receive monthly checks, vouchers,…

Resources

USDA announces 2012 support for SNAP in farmers markets, issues memorandum on state allocations

The $4 million is being distributed to states using an allocation formula based on the number of markets not accepting SNAP at present. In a memorandum to Regional SNAP and Field Operations Offices, the Food and Nutrition Service explains that allowable costs for the funds (covered at 100%) include the purchase or lease of wireless POS equipment and monthly wireless access fees associated with using that equipment. “States may choose to provide wireless POS equipment that also accepts commercial credit and debit cards, without being required to cost-allocate the cost of equipment or its flat monthly service fees,” provided that markets themselves bear the cost of debit or credit transaction fees unrelated to SNAP wireless access.

The Future of Payment at Farmers Markets: Evolving Technology to Connect Farmers to SNAP and WIC

The Future of Payment at Farmers Markets: Evolving Technology to Connect Farmers to SNAP and WIC by Drew Love There is a $64 billion dollar pool of money out there to support localized sustainable agriculture, and there is a piece of plastic standing in the way. The $64 billion dollars is the amount of money…

States advocate for legislation and regulation to support home-based micro-processing

By Drew Love, FMC Research & Education Intern When the Food Safety Modernization Act passed in 2010, it established an important precedent by allowing smaller, direct-marketing farms to be exempt from many of the new federal requirements, provided that they could prove compliance with applicable state and local regulations. Now, a wave of legislative and…

A New Year Brings New Opportunities and Challenges

Happy New Year, fellow travelers in the healthy food movement! It has been a tremendous year with lots of hard work… many new customers and farmers coming to market and lots of challenges to continue to serve at our highest levels. Just like you, the Farmers Market Coalition has met challenges and successes with determination…

FMC and Campbell Risk Management Make Farmers Market Insurance Available to Producers Nationwide

Recognizing the need for affordable liability insurance for farmers market vendors, the Farmers Market Coalition has partnered with Campbell Risk Management (CRM) to help make their farmers market insurance program available at a national level.

Market Manager Frequently Asked Questions Coming Soon

“Should we charge vendors a single base fee or a percentage-of-sales fee?” “ What types of insurance does our market organization need?” “ What rules should apply to artisan vendors?” These are just a few of the questions that FMC, and our member state associations, get every month from both new and existing markets. A…

What Are You Doing to Celebrate National FM Week?

National Farmers Market Week is August 1st-7th, 2010! The Farmers Market Coalition has updated its Markets Are Up! toolkit, including a Press Release Template, Talking Points, and FAQs to help you communicate to the public and spread the word about how your market is benefiting farmers, communities, and consumers. How is your market celebrating?

FMC Explores Farmers Market Insurance Options

The policy provides producers with group rates for $1 million in general and product liability per occurrence with a $2 million annual aggregate limit and a zero deductible, covering a producer’s participation in all markets.