FARMINGTON — The Farmington Farmers’ Market is offering Maine Harvest Bucks again this year. The Harvest Bucks program helps thousands of Mainers eat more fruits and vegetables every year.

People who buy food using SNAP (the program formerly known as food stamps) have an average of $4 a day to spend on food. Maine Harvest Bucks doubles that amount of food dollars and encourages the shoppers to buy fruits and vegetables at the farmers’ market.

The market operates every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Farmington District Court on Main Street. Any person who shops with SNAP is welcome to join. When shoppers spend a dollar with SNAP, they will receive a dollar voucher in Maine Harvest Bucks. The Maine Harvest Bucks is a dollar-for-dollar match for fresh fruits and vegetables at the market that day or shoppers can also save the Harvest Bucks vouchers for when their SNAP/EBT funds are low. This helps to ensure families can buy food at all times of the month.

The United Way of the Tri-Valley Area is the fiscal sponsor for the Farmington Farmers’ Market’s Harvest Bucks program, and the organization is helping recruit volunteers to staff the info booth. The volunteers will process EBT and debit/credit cards and provide resource information to shoppers at the market. For more information about volunteering, contact volunteer@uwtva.org or call 207-778-5048.

The market members noted that the Maine Harvest Bucks brought them new customers last year.

Maine Harvest Bucks is a program of the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets (MFFM), which has supported the program for the past three years under USDA’s Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grant. Farmington Farmers’ Market partners with MFFM to operate the program.

Visit maineharvestbucks.org to learn about all the locations (farmers’ markets and more) statewide where the SNAP bonuses are available.

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