Food program makes ‘big time’ difference to needy families seeking healthy options

A 15-year-old boy training for wrestling can put down a lot of food. Single mom Nina Gomez knows that from experience — and from her grocery receipts.

And Gomez, who works at the Price Chopper in Roeland Park, has four other mouths to feed at home.

For those like Gomez trying to feed their families healthy produce, the Double Up Food Program has made a “big time” difference.

Organizers on Tuesday said more and more needy families are benefiting.

The program matches Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) dollars spent on local produce at Kansas and Missouri farmers markets and grocery stores. Participants receive a matching Double Up Food Bucks dollar for more local fruits and vegetables, up to $25 a day.

“This program helps people that do have benefits stretch those dollars,” said Brian DeSmet, the Kansas and Missouri program manager for Fair Food Network, which started the first Double Up Food Bucks program in Detroit in 2009.

In 2015, the program did a trial run at five Balls Food Price Choppers in the Kansas City area. Today, it functions at 14 Price Choppers and 26 farmers markets. Last year, participants earned $385,000 Double Up Food Bucks and redeemed over $295,000.

Fifteen percent of Kansas City area residents are food insecure, according to Ron Shaffer, a Johnson County commissioner.

“I see people eating healthier now than back in the day,” said Gomez, who, as a participant of the program and cashier at Price Chopper, knows the program well. Now that it’s more affordable, Gomez said, more of these families are learning how to cook with fresh produce.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides half the funding for the program here and requires a 50/50 match. The program has partnered with about 30 local companies, including Balls Food Price Chopper stores, Cultivate KC, Fair Food Network, KU Medical Center and Mid-America Regional Council.

“I think this program in particular really tries to positively provide folks with food they really want anyway. They just struggle to get it with the income they have,” said Donna Martin, the program’s manager in Kansas and Missouri.

Local farmers benefit as well. Balls Food gets produce from 150 farmers within 200 miles of the stores, said chief operating officer Mike Beal.

Kyler Henson of Nevada, Mo., runs communication between Mennonite farmers in Rich Hill, Mo., and Balls Food in Kansas City. The increase in demand “helps the farmer make more product.”

It’s challenging for the program to reach low-income families in rural areas because grocery stores and farmers markets would need Electronic Benefits Transfer machines, which cost about $1,000 each. But the program is working to expand its reach and has a few participating stores in rural areas.

Nationally, SNAP and Double Up Food Bucks programs have made headlines because the Novo Dia Group, which processes about 40 percent of SNAP transactions at farmers markets, is expected to end its services at the close of August. However, Kansas City area farmers markets will not be affected as Cultivate KC raised $5,000 to purchase five new processing machines for affected markets.

This means Gomez can still provide her children with their favorite fruit — watermelon, or as they like to call it, ”the ball,” with the aid of Double Up Food Bucks, whether it be bought at a farmers market or her own Price Chopper.