Greens for Everyone

Government assistance should not relegate you to the canned food aisle. In 2004 the food stamp system went paperless (awesome!) but it had one glaring drawback: expensive electronic terminals needed to process debit card transactions. And although farmers markets received the green light to accept food stamps, most could not afford the technology to do so. Each terminal costs approximately $1100.But through nonprofit assisted state and federal efforts, hundreds of thousands of terminals are available at farmers markets across the nation. The New York Times reports that a program in Montana opened 42 terminals and Iowa and New Jersey provide farmers with wireless machines to accept payment.

Over the past year the number of farmers markets that accept food stamps has jumped an, an impressive 34%. The mutually beneficial set-up brings a broader clientele to farmers and makes healthy organic food readily available to those who would otherwise be unlikely to afford it. And as far as we're concerned, that's some sound market value.

Photo by Natalie Maynor courtesy Flickr