September 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 60

H E A LT H A N D W E L L N E S S

vouchers that can be used at the local
markets to purchase healthy foods.
Market Umbrella has a double-up
bucks program, where Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) recipients can double the
value of their electronic benefit
transfer (EBT) to purchase additional fruits and vegetables. Accepting
benefits, like the Women, Infants
and Children Farmers Market Nutrition Program (WIC FMNP), the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) or SNAP, promotes
access to healthy foods for food-insecure individuals and expands the
customer base for markets, resulting
in increased sales and revenue.

and crafts that connect to fruits and
vegetables, and other fun activities
from NRPA's Foods of the Month
curriculum. Providing this education at farmers markets is another
opportunity to engage families,
meeting caregivers where they are
and reinforcing healthy behaviors
that are being taught in afterschool
and summer camp programs.
Liz Rich, with the Salt Lake City
Corporation, says, " Our families
have made it a weekly tradition to
visit the market with their children
as they leave for the day. The kids
are incentivized to eat healthy and
they receive a $2 produce voucher
sponsored by Intermountain Health
Care. Having a weekly farmers market within feet of our facility reinforces our Commit to Health literacy, promotes healthy choices and
purchases for the family and creates
an opportunity for the community
to come together. These are all pow58

Parks & Recreation

erful components in establishing
healthy relationships with food. "
Accepting Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance
In New Orleans, Louisiana, multiple partners, including the New
Orleans Recreation Development
Commission (http://nordc.org/
home/), are working to expand access to farmers markets across the
city. NORDC partners with Market Umbrella (www.marketumbrel
la.org/), a nonprofit focused on establishing and expanding farmers
markets to promote positive, social and economic benefits across
the community, to establish and
operate markets at local park and
recreation sites in low-income and
food-insecure communities.
Grant funding also supports a
voucher system, where individuals attend health management and
physical activity programs to receive

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Strengthening Community
Connections
Farmers markets are a win-win
for local government, community
partners, producers and consumers.
Partnerships between local government, nonprofit organizations and
the local agriculture community
promote community collaboration
and leverage local resources, bringing down costs associated with operating a market, as well as providing economic and health benefits
to both producers and consumers.
They also serve as another venue for
community engagement and cultural reflection, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and
providing an opportunity to engage
with key stakeholders and community members across multiple
generations. In addition, farmers
markets create job opportunities,
as most market produce is sourced
within a 100-mile radius of the
market location.
Allison Colman is an NRPA Senior Program
Manager (acolman@nrpa.org).

September 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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