Farmers' Market participant accepts WIC vouchers

RUMFORD — The Roy Family Farm has become the first member of the River Valley Farmers' Market to accept Women Infants Children vouchers and Farmers' Market checks.

Jessica Roy, owner and manager of the farm on the South Rumford Road, said many people had asked whether WIC vouchers could be taken at the weekly River Valley Farmers' Market.

Now they can.

This is Roy's second year participating in the local farmers' market, although she devoted several years before that to growing and supplying produce to other area farmers.

She runs a 2.5-acre farm on the South Rumford Road and lives on Route 232, where she also operates a farm produce stand.

She is currently spearheading an effort to get a grant from the Department of Agriculture for a modem that would allow payment of farmers' market goods by participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps). Everyone who offers fresh produce, meats, baked goods, fruits and other items would be able to use the modem at the River Valley Farmers' Market to accept food stamp cards, if they wish.

Roy is also looking ahead to next year at her farm. She wants to build one or two heated greenhouses that would be capable of producing some vegetables year-round. Related to those plans, she hopes to offer canning classes and to oversee a community garden. She is looking into grants that would help pay for such greenhouses.

She's also working toward getting licenses to sell baked goods and canned foods.

Roy, with the help of her husband, Matthew, is certified as a producer of naturally grown produce. She said she uses no chemicals in her gardens, but the high cost of obtaining an organic designation has prevented her from going after such an identification.

The River Valley Farmers' Market is held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Friday until October in the parking lot of Labonville in Mexico.

eadams@sunjournal.com