{"id":8835,"date":"2018-07-20T17:34:14","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T17:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=8835"},"modified":"2018-07-20T17:34:14","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T17:34:14","slug":"struggling-texans-can-double-money-at-farmers-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=8835","title":{"rendered":"Struggling Texans Can Double Money at Farmers\u2019 Markets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A coalition of organizations is working to launch a large-scale Double Up Food Bucks program soon in Houston. Photo: Pxhere<\/p><\/div>\n

by Eric Galatas<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

LUBBOCK, Texas \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0One-in-four Texas children is food insecure, meaning he or she frequently doesn\u2019t know where the next meal will come from. But a program launched in Detroit to help more struggling families access healthy food is starting to take root in Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cDouble Up Food Bucks<\/a>\u201d lets recipients of SNAP \u2013 formerly known as food stamps \u2013 double their benefits, up to $20 per visit, if they buy locally grown fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets. Andy Black, regional director at Baylor University\u2019s Texas Hunger Initiative in Lubbock, called the program a \u201ctriple win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt stretches the dollars of low-income SNAP recipients. But it also, you know, grows the customer base, it provides an economic boost for local farmers, especially at farmers markets,\u201d Black said. \u201cAnd overall it\u2019s a boost to the entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since many SNAP recipients live in areas known as food deserts, where fresh produce isn\u2019t readily available, Black noted the Double Up program \u2013 if expanded to more markets across the state \u2013 could help more Texans eat nutritious meals.<\/p>\n

Critics of SNAP claim the program encourages unemployment, and the U.S. House recently passed a farm bill that would expand work requirements in order to receive benefits. The requirement was dropped in the U.S. Senate\u2019s version of the bill.<\/p>\n

Black said he believes there are many misconceptions about SNAP recipients, noting that many farmers selling their produce at markets are either currently receiving the benefits or have received them in the not-so-distant past.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the reality is the vast majority of SNAP recipients are children, they\u2019re the elderly, seniors, they\u2019re people with disabilities,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re people with jobs, sometimes multiple jobs, jobs that don\u2019t pay enough to sustain a stable lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently, the only farmers markets officially participating in Double Up are near Amarillo, Lubbock and Waco.\u00a0The Fair Food Network<\/a>, the national organization behind the program, also has provided support for efforts in Austin, San Antonio and Houston, where a coalition of organizations hopes to launch a large-scale program soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Eric Galatas LUBBOCK, Texas \u2013\u00a0One-in-four Texas children is food insecure, meaning he or she frequently doesn\u2019t know where the next meal will come from. But a program launched in Detroit to help more struggling families access healthy food is starting to take root in Texas. \u201cDouble Up Food Bucks\u201d lets recipients of SNAP \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8836,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8835\/revisions\/8836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}