Dear Editor,

When it comes to food assistance, there are many ways to stretch a dollar. I want to simplify what Nederland Farmers Market (NFM) can offer community members who have such benefits.

If you receive SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), you have an EBT card (food stamps in essence) to purchase food. When you pre-order a produce box, or other food items, through NFM’s online shop, we run your EBT card at pickup. When you buy food items at our markets (every second and fourth Sunday per month), we run your EBT card at the NFM Info Booth. Eligible food items include all that is not hot and ready at the market (so you can’t use Market Bucks for buying lunch at The Vegetable Express).

DUBF (Double Up Food Bucks) doubles your EBT spending by matching $20 a day. So, if you come to the market and run your EBT card for $20, we give you $40 of Market Bucks ($20 SNAP and $20 DUFB) to spend at the market. You could buy produce, pickled veggies, honey, bread, etc.

Just last week, NFM received a grant from the Denver Foundation which allows us to hand out another $5 of Market Bucks every week to each qualifying recipient. Any person 60 years and older is automatically gifted $5 Denver Foundation Market Bucks whenever they come to a market.

Now you can order a $25 produce box by applying $10 in SNAP funding + $10 DUBF + $5 Denver Foundation Market Bucks. Every week you only need to run your EBT card for $10 in exchange for seven pounds of fresh produce that we gather from local farms. Of course, you can use that $25 of value on other food purchases besides the produce box, whether online or onsite.

We really hope that by stretching your every dollar, we can help you eat well and be healthy.

For more information go to www.nederlandfarmersmarket.org

Melody Baumhover
Market Manager of Nederland Farmers Market