Farmer’s markets have a reputation for being expensive. But in recent years an increasing number of them have started to accept SNAP benefits. WMRA News rural health reporter Henry Brannan has more.
Tucked away along the West Virginia border, Highland County ranks second worst for food access in Virginia.
LOHR-MYERS: “Almost anyone you stop in Highland County will have a cooler in their back seat or their trunk, because we're all used to driving at least an hour, or an hour-and-a-half, to get our groceries every week.”
That’s Elizabeth Lohr-Myers. She runs the Highland Center, a non-profit that puts on the local farmer’s market While it’s one of the only places to get food in the area, the market is one of the many in Virginia making groceries more affordable by accepting benefit programs like SNAP. At the Staunton farmer’s market earlier this month, there were 22 SNAP transactions. Ashley Malcolm is a vendor and the market manager there.
MALCOLM: “By being a part of the farmers market, I wanted our food to be accessible, to be able to be purchased by everyone.
A map of market locations is available on the Virginia Farmer’s Market Association's website.
For WMRA News, I’m Henry Brannan.
Henry Brannan’s reporting is in partnership with VPM News and Report for America.
