KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) A food program is making a big difference to low-income families seeking healthy options in the Kansas City area.
The Double Up Food Program matches Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars spent on local produce at Kansas and Missouri farmers markets and grocery stores. Participants receive up to $25 a day in matching Double Up Food Bucks dollars for more local fruits and vegetables, the Kansas City Star reported .
This program helps people that do have benefits stretch those dollars, said Brian DeSmet, the Kansas and Missouri program manager for Fair Food Network, which began the first Double Up program in Detroit.
The program did a trial run in 2015 at five Balls Food Price Choppers in the Kansas City area. Double Up Bucks now functions at 14 Price Choppers and 26 farmers markets.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides half the funding and requires a 50-50 match for the Kansas City program, which gets contributions from about 30 local companies.
Participants earned $385,000 Double Up Food Bucks last year and redeemed more than $295,000, according to the program. Organizers said Tuesday that more needy families are benefiting from the program.
I see people eating healthier now than back in the day, said Nina Gomez, a program participant and a Price Chopper cashier in Roeland Park. She said more low-income families are learning how to cook with fresh produce now that its more affordable.
About 15 percent of residents in the Kansas City area are food insecure, according to Johnson County Commissioner Ron Shaffer. A person is considered food insecure when access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and resources, preventing an active and healthy life, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The program has struggled to reach low-income families in rural areas because grocery stores and farmers markets would need Electronic Benefit Transfer machines, which cost about $1,000 each. The program said its still working to expand its reach has some participating stores in rural areas.
