FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – Thanks to Double Up Indiana, area residents can now shop with SNAP at Fort Wayne’s Farmers Market and get free fruits and vegetables.
For every $2 a customer spends in SNAP (formerly food stamps) at Fort Wayne’s Farmers Market, that customer will get another $2 to spend on fruits and vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and seeds and plants that produce food. The Double Up matching dollars are limited to $20/day.
The City of Fort Wayne released the following:
The free fruits and vegetables are part of the Double Up Indiana initiative, a St. Joseph Community Health Foundation program funded in part by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and support from Parkview Health and United Way of Allen County.
“The St. Joe Foundation is excited to make it possible for SNAP families to shop at Fort Wayne’s Farmers Market,” said Meg Distler, executive director of the foundation. “Our goal is to help residents access healthy food at affordable prices, and by doing this we also support local food producers.”
“The FWFM mission has always been to provide access to local foods in our community. We are pleased to expand with this partnership to provide more families access to all of these great local products,” said Leigh Rowan, market coordinator.
It’s easy to take part in Double Up Indiana at the Fort Wayne’s Farmers Market. Customers stop at the market information table and let the staff know how much they would like to spend. The staff swipe the customer’s SNAP card and then provide yellow vouchers equal to the amount charged to the card. These yellow vouchers can be spent at any participating vendor that sells SNAP-eligible items such as produce, dairy, meat, eggs or bread. The customer then gets the same amount of green vouchers, up to $20/day, that can be used to purchase fruits and vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and seeds and plants that produce food.
Fort Wayne’s Farmers Market takes place Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 to 1 p.m. at McCulloch Park, 1795 Broadway Ave. Beginning Saturday, Oct. 2, the market will move indoors to Parkview Field, 285 W. Douglas Ave. The midweek market will end on Sept. 29. Fort Wayne’s Farmers Market began in 2012 and is expected to locate on the Electric Works campus beginning in late 2022.
Double Up Indiana is also available at: the Johnnie Mae Farm operated by the City of Fort Wayne and Purdue Extension – Allen County, all three HEAL Markets operated by HealthVisions Midwest of Fort Wayne, Plowshares Rose Avenue Farm and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and the 3 Rivers Natural Food Co-Op. The addresses and hours of these markets can be found at www.DoubleUpIndiana.org.
