It’s going to be easier for low-income families in Grand Forks to get fresh, locally-grown food at the Farmers Market.
The Boundary Community Food Bank has launched their annual Farmers Market coupon program June 5, which Pam Macgregor, B.C. Farmers Market coordinator said it has seen exponential growth since last year.
“We were able to sponsor 120 people in it last year. This year, we have 190 people,” she said. “We have plenty of sponsorship this year, which is wonderful. We have enough coupons for 80 families, 30 dedicated to seniors, then with the funding we are receiving from the farmers market people, we will have enough for 50 more participants at our discretion.”
Starting June 16, Macgregor will be at the Gyro Park market to distribute the coupons to clients.
The program runs for 16 weeks, but coupons are valid until Dec. 15. Macgregor explained participants qualify for 16 sheets of coupons and each sheet has a value of $27, distributed throughout the market season. Participants get one sheet per week. The coupons in total give a recipient $432 in combined value to use to purchase fresh vegetables, fruit, herbs, fish, seafood & meat, dairy & eggs, food plants, honey & nuts.
This makes shopping at the local farmers market more accessible for people who otherwise couldn’t afford to buy from local producers.
“This valuable program is funded by the Province and we are so fortunate to be able to offer this program to those in need and support our local farmers,” she said. “BC Farmers’ Markets delivers this healthy eating initiative which supports BC farmers, farmers’ markets and strengthens food Security across British Columbia”
The coupons offer a reciprocal relationship between food bank clients and market vendors. Angie Morris, market board member and owner of Kettle Kountry Farm said some makers and growers rely on this coupon program to keep their businesses viable and get their products sold.
“It helps us turn a profit and also plan for next year’s market season,” she said. “For some of us, this could make or break our season.”
Because the coupons are valid for several weeks after the growing season, many participants combine them to bulk buy harvest items in the fall to can or freeze or can, or shelf-stable items like cabbages, potatoes, onions and other root vegetables to get them through the winter.
“It’s huge for the community and the farmers,” she said. “With these coupons, customers can buy what they need for their household and they have more freedom to choose.”
The market had to apply through the Ministry of Agriculture to obtain the coupons, Morris said. The ministry looks at the applications and approves for so many families. Each community has to have a community partner willing to support them before it is allowed to run a coupon program, Morris explained.
When the coupons are spent, they subsidize the market vendors. The market also gets local partners to help raise funds to sponsor more families.
Grand Forks’ partners include RDKB areas C, D and E, City of Grand Forks, Rockwell, Grand Forks Credit Union and Phoenix Foundation.
Morris said Grand Forks has been involved in the coupon program for five years, but it has been running across B.C. for many years before that. It started on Vancouver Island and spread east across the Lower Mainland.
The market runs in Gyro Park until the weekend after Thanksgiving, then moves indoors and runs until the week after Christmas, then restarts in January Morris said. The market board is still trying to secure an indoor venue for later this year.
The past two years it has been in the Legion Hall, but with more vendors wanting to join, they need more room, said Morris.
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