Just Harvest is proud to bring “Fresh Access,” a program enabling food stamp (SNAP) shoppers to use their benefits at two weekly Pittsburgh CitiParks Farmers Markets.
Pittsburgh’s farmers’ markets have long been a popular source of seasonal, locally produced, nutritious and affordable food. However, many local residents are not familiar with the markets or view them as unaffordable for low-income households. Now, in addition to helping people apply for SNAP benefits, Just Harvest’s “Fresh Access” program can also broad food stamp recipients’ shopping choices while supporting regional farmers.
The “Fresh Access” program utilizes a token kiosk, allowing SNAP users to swipe their EBT card and receive wooden tokens which will work like cash at the market and are redeemable with all participating vendors. The token kiosk also accomodates credit and debit card users, who will be asked to contribute $1 per transaction to help cover program costs.