NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROgRAMS
North Asheville Tailgate Market Guide to Food Benefits & Assistance Programs at Markets
This Instagram post is an example of how market managers can let their customers know about the supplemental nutrition programs they offer. 2024.
Marketing & Community Outreach
This webpage from the Nutrition Incentive Hub provides market managers with ideas and marketing assistance for nutrition incentive programs. No date.
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A Guide to SNAP/EBT for N.C. Farmers Markets
This is an excellent comprehensive guide to understanding SNAP/EBT from RAFI-USA and a great place to start for market managers who are interested in becoming SNAP retailers. 2018.
Implement SNAP/EBT: Understand the Legal Issues
This website acts as a landing page for all farmers market inquiries about SNAP and EBT, with information about eligibility, payment, accounting, enforcement, and incentives. The information is roughly the same as the above resource from RAFI, but the formatting may be more accessible within this resource from the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. 2024.
How Do I Apply to Accept Benefits?
This webpage from the USDA provides basic information for applying to be a SNAP retailer. No date.
SLIDES: SNAP at Your Farmers Market
This slidedeck from RAFI-USA walks market managers through the process of becoming a SNAP retailer. 2024.
Notes on Pathway to Accept SNAP & Double Bucks
This brief, informal document from NCFMN provides basic information for managers interested in accepting SNAP and double SNAP at their markets. 2023.
EBT Fact Sheet for New Retailers
This USDA fact sheet provides helpful information to market managers who are interested in offering SNAP/EBT at their markets or who have already been approved to do so. This guide tells vendors and market managers how to honor SNAP benefits and where to get an EBT-compatible POS system. 2017.
Report on EBT Technology at Farmers Markets
This helpful guide from the Farmers Market Coalition compiles data collected during the 2022 market season about how markets around the country use EBT. It provides a lot of important information for managers interested in implementing SNAP/EBT at their market. 2023.
Guide to Excel for Farmers Market SNAP/EBT Programs
This guide from RAFI-USA helps market managers understand and find success using Excel to track SNAP/EBT programs. 2024.
MarketLink provides grants to eligible markets for equipment or online software to use for SNAP and EBT. 2024.
MarketLink SNAP Equipment Grant Overview
This quick fact sheet lays out the benefits of the MarketLink SNAP Equipment grant for direct marketing farmers and farmers markets. 2024.
Quick Tips: Attracting EBT & WIC Customers
This infosheet from the Community Farm Alliance provides market managers with six ways to increase engagement from SNAP/EBT and WIC customers at the market. 2020.
How to Apply for SNAP Benefits for Consumers
This site from the NCDHHS guides SNAP-eligible consumers through the process of applying for benefits. No date.
Fair Food Network Nutrition Incentives
The Fair Food Network provides funding for double SNAP benefits in North Carolina. This website gives more information about the program for interested market managers and vendors. 2022.
Double Up Food Bucks MountainWise
This website from WNC’s MountainWise illustrates how other organizations in the state can use double up food bucks to increase SNAP benefits and market revenue. 2022.
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SUN Bucks is a new program of the USDA that provides food assistance to children and their families during the summer months. It will begin in June 2024, and users will be able to use their SUN Bucks at farmers markets with EBT or similar cards. 2024.
Info about NC Summer Nutrition Programs
Interested market managers can apply to become sponsors or sites (depending on business structure and other factors) that provide school-aged children in need of food assistance with daily meals during the summer. No date.
WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program
The WIC FMNP provides food assistance to women, mothers, and children aged 4 months to 5 years. From July to October each year, WIC recipients can use FMNP benefits at farmers markets, farms, and roadside stands. 2024.
NC WIC FMNP Guidelines for Farmers
This document outlines eligibility requirements and guidelines for NC farmers interested in participating in the WIC FMNP program, as well as contact information for program administrators. 2024.
NC WIC FMNP Training for Farmer Certification
This slide deck walks interested farmers through the certification process to become approved WIC FMNP retailers. NOTE: This slide deck was created for the 2023 season and should only be used as a general guide as program requirements have likely changed since then. Contact WIC FMNP program administrators for up-to-date information. 2023.
This series of webinars from NCDHHS provides viewers with a basic understanding of how WIC programs work. 2022.
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The State of Older Adult Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in North Carolina
This short 2023 report from NCDHHS highlights the struggles that many older adults in North Carolina face in regard to receiving adequate nutrition. 2023.
NC Seniors Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP)
This website is the landing page for information about the SFMNP in North Carolina, which provides food assistance for seniors at farmers markets. No date.
This website provides contact information for NC SFMNP administrators at NCDHHS whom market managers and farmers can contact for more information about enrolling as SFMNP providers. 2023.
This presentation from Karen Appert at the NC Division of Aging provides general information about the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) as well as up-to-date information for the 2024 market season. 2024.
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These are programs that might not specifically apply to farmers markets, but that can provide other engagement or educational opportunities for farmers market managers, vendors, and customers.
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
Use this tool to find your local county’s Nutrition Extension Associate, who can help you connect with and develop EFNEP programming at your market. Click here for information about becoming an EFNEP partner. 2024.
Tribal Food Distribution for EBCI
The Tribal Food Distribution program provides eligible households with monthly food packages filled with a nutritious selection of foods. 2023.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
CFSP provides older adults above 60 years old with supplemental food to improve health and nutrition. 2022.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
TEFAP provides food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, and similar organizations with free food to give to low-income individuals in their communities. 2020.
Disaster SNAP Benefits Fact Sheet
From the USDA, this fact sheet briefly outlines Disaster SNAP benefits and explains more about the program. 2013.