MAKING GOOD FOOD AFFORDABLE WITH FARM FRESH RI

BY AUDREY VON MALUSKI

../../../../Home.html
../../../../News/News.html
../../../Features.html
../../../../Opinions/Opinions.html
../../../../Arts/Arts.html
../../../../Sports/Sports.html
../../../../Literary/Literary.html

At first glance, such sentiments seem to be

at odds with the reality of downtown Provi-

dence, where much of the population counts

itself among the urban poor. Generally, a

person living on the wages from a part time

job isn’t seeking the experience of buying

food directly from the farmer who grew it.

Instead, they’re trying to get the most food

for their money. The typical patrons of farm-

ers’ markets have enough money in their

food budget to support the extra costs of

buying organic or locally grown foods. Noah

Fulmer, executive director of FFRI, told the

Independent that usually “farmer’s markets

are in neighborhoods with a wealthier clien-

tele.”

However, FFRI is taking steps to change

the nature of its markets in order to make

them more accessible to everyone. Under the

Women, Infant and Children (WIC) ben-

efits program, low-income mothers receive

$15 per season to spend at farmers’ markets.

Rhode Island’s food stamp benefits (EBT

food stamps) are generally intended for use

at supermarkets. During the summer sea-

son of 2007, FFRI paired up with Rhode

Island’s Department of Human Services to

allow customers to pay for farmers’ market

purchases with EBT food stamps, making it

possible for low-income families to purchase

more organic, locally grown foods with the

funds allocated them.

The idea was conceived following the re-

lease of the 2006 Rhode Island Community

Food Bank Hunger Issues Report. The report

found that Rhode Island ranked 49th out of

50 states in the growth of the use of its food

stamps program—despite experiencing a

56 percent increase in hunger over the past

six years. Every year, a smaller percentage

of low-income familes partook in the food

stamps program. FFRI interpreted the report

as an opportunity to make farm-fresh food

more widely available to anyone, regardless

of economic status.

To participate in the program, a food

stamps-eligible patron (generally, a family

earning less than $1504 per month) swipes

their card at a station and receives one-dol-

lar tokens to spend. The tokens may be re-

deemed for any fresh food product in the

market. At the end of the day, vendors re-

ceive a check for the amount of tokens they

accumulate.

Since its inception, the market has taken

in approximately $500 from food stamp us-

ers, according to Fulmer. Technical difficul-

ties with FFRI’s card swiping machine cur-

tailed the food stamps program at first. Also,

says Fulmer, “not many people know about

[the program] yet.” But he hopes that word

will spread and the number of food stamps

customers will increase during the summer

season, when more markets open up around

Providence. 

There was a similar consensus among the

vendors: not many customers have paid

with food stamps yet. But, as one bespec-

tacled farmer said, weighing a bag of apples,

“They’re always welcome.”

The sight of customers reaching into

wooden crates to examine potatoes or to

knock hollowly on the sides of gourds is fa-

miliar to anyone who has ever stopped at a

roadside stand, perhaps for sweet corn or for

strawberries. Even in this dimly lit room, lo-

cated on a city block, the simple purity of the

farmer’s market is evident. It is a quiet com-

munion between fruit and nostril, between

farmer and customer. And now, for many of

Providence’s low-income families, the taste

of organic and locally grown fruits is not for-

bidden any longer.


__________________________________

AUDREY von MALUSKI B’10 eats sweet

corn in the summertime.