{"id":8474,"date":"2014-04-29T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=8474"},"modified":"2014-04-29T02:06:08","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T07:06:08","slug":"farmers-market-event-increases-snap-recipient-access-to-tennessee-farm-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2014\/04\/29\/farmers-market-event-increases-snap-recipient-access-to-tennessee-farm-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers\u2019 Market Event increases SNAP recipient access to Tennessee Farm Products"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TennesseeNashville, TN<\/strong> – Farmers and farmers\u2019 markets across the state yesterday increased their reach to the more than 1.3 million Tennesseans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the Tennessee Department of Human Services, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the USDA\u2019s Food and Nutrition Service hosted the Farmers\u2019 Market On-Site Application and Approval Event for those interested in receiving free wireless point-of-sale (POS) devices equipped to accept SNAP benefits.Through this event, eligible participants were also able to receive approval to process SNAP transactions within the day, versus the normal processing timeframe.<\/p>\n

Last year, SNAP recipients spent an average of $175 million in benefits per month. With the new increase of farmers and farmers\u2019 markets able to accept the benefit, more Tennessee households can have access to fresh, healthy and nutritious foods.<\/p>\n

This is especially opportune for rural communities in which farms have often been a staple but grocery stores may be scarce.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the many rural communities in Tennessee, expanding the opportunity for families receiving SNAP to access food is vital,\u201d said DHS Commissioner Raquel Hatter. \u201cEnlisting farmers and farmers\u2019 markets can help to alleviate the issue, while placing fresh, nutritious foods on the table for many families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Individual farmers and farmers\u2019 markets that were unable to attend the event can contact the Department of Human Services to find out if they qualify for federal grants for free wireless point-of-sale equipment and internet access. Or, they can visit the new MarketLinkTM website as an additional way to become an authorized SNAP vendor and get the equipment needed to accept SNAP benefits.<\/p>\n

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service works to improve childhood nutrition and empower families to make healthier food choices by expanding the availability of healthy food and offering tools to help in the process. This effort is supported when farmers and farmers\u2019 markets accept SNAP.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, of the nearly 8,000 farmers\u2019 markets in the United States, about half accept SNAP payments,\u201d said FNS Southeast Deputy Regional Administrator Erin Swanson-Hall. \u201cAt the same time, many SNAP recipients, especially in urban areas, are unaware that their SNAP EBT cards can be used to purchase fresh products directly from authorized farmers or farmers\u2019 markets. We\u2019re working to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on how to become a SNAP authorized farm or farmers\u2019 market and receive wireless EBT equipment, please visit www.fns.usda.gov\/ebt\/learn-about-snap-benefits-farmers-markets,<\/a> www.marketlink.org<\/a>, or contact Loleetha Gilbert, Loleetha.Gilbert@tn.gov<\/a>, 615.313.5276.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nashville, TN – Farmers and farmers\u2019 markets across the state yesterday increased their reach to the more than 1.3 million Tennesseans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps. Yesterday, the Tennessee Department of Human Services, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the USDA\u2019s Food and Nutrition Service hosted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[6458,107,8672,9101,549,284,4988,773,8671,261,1632,769,1457,1458],"class_list":["post-8474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","tag-farmers-markets","tag-featured","tag-food-stamps","tag-loleetha-gilbert","tag-nashville","tag-nashville-tn","tag-raquel-hatter","tag-snap","tag-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-department-of-agriculture","tag-tennessee-department-of-human-services","tag-u-s-department-of-agriculture","tag-usda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8475,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474\/revisions\/8475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}