December 1, 2020
Webinar to Connect Communities, Double Up Food Bucks Program
A new grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture supports healthy eating while benefitting farmers markets and grocery stores in Kansas and parts of Missouri. K-State Research and Extension will receive a sub-award from the Mid-America Regional Council, or MARC, for $815,348 over four years to support Double Up Food Bucks across most of Kansas. An upcoming webinar will share more about expanding community opportunities.
All interested KSRE personnel are invited to join a webinar on Friday, December 11, from 3-4 p.m. to learn more from MARC and KSRE about the DUFB program and how your local community can get involved. Please register for the free webinar at https://ksu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrcuGhqzItHdP1hGlLl4bN7vImT0e2hzSn.
The webinar will be recorded for those who are not able to join live or for sharing the information with external partners later.
NIFA awarded the grant for just over $4 million to MARC through the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program. The money will allow continuation of the Double Up Food Bucks program, which provides a dollar-for-dollar match to low-income consumers who purchase fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets or grocery stores. Shoppers qualify for the match if they are enrolled in the federally-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Londa Nwadike, state food safety specialist for KSRE and University of Missouri Extension, serves as lead for the KSRE grant. “We are excited to learn that this innovative, valuable program will be a reality across Kansas through 2024, and we look forward to expanding Double Up Food Bucks to new locales across the state.”
Erin Bishop, coordinator of KSRE’s DUFB program, noted that K-State Research and Extension first implemented the program in 2020 with financial support from the Kansas Health Foundation, though the program has been available through other groups before that. “With this new funding, we can expand the program to additional markets,” Bishop said.
In the December 11 webinar, more information will be provided on how farmers markets and smaller/rural grocery stores across Kansas can offer Double Up Food Bucks to SNAP recipients. In February, K-State Research and Extension plans to provide training to farmers market managers who are interested in participating in the Double Up Food Bucks program.
For more information on DUFB in Kansas, contact Bishop at erbish@ksu.edu.