As part of his ongoing battle with the federal government over restricting food stamp use, Gov. Paul LePage has professed concern for the health of Maine’s low-income residents. He wants to ban the use of food stamps to purchase soda and candy so the state’s taxpayers can stop “financing a steady diet of Mars bars and Mountain Dew,” as the governor recently wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The governor’s example is a bit extreme. A recent study did find that food stamp recipients buy and eat less nutritious food than people with higher incomes. One reason is that healthier food — namely a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables — is harder to find in poor neighborhoods and rural areas. It is also more time-consuming to cook meals of fresh food than to buy take-out food or heat up packaged food, a big consideration for a mom juggling two jobs and child care. Families that receive food stamps are less likely to eat three meals per day.
But the differences aren’t as stark as LePage suggests. As a group, Americans aren’t healthy eaters. Only one in 10 Americans eats enough fruits and vegetables to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition guidelines, which call for two to three cups per day. More than half of Americans’ daily vegetable intake comes from potatoes and tomatoes, often in the form of french fries and pizza.
There are numerous efforts, nationally and in Maine, to increase the availability of fresh food. More than 40 of the state’s farmers markets accept electronic benefits transfer cards, which contain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other benefits. Through an incentive program called Harvest Bucks, SNAP recipients who buy milk, eggs or meat at a farmers market or other participating vendor get vouchers, up to dollar-for-dollar, to buy fruits and vegetables.
“In terms of healthy food options, farmers market incentives may be able to bring a low-income person onto the same playing field as those with greater means,” Carolyn Dimitri, an associate professor of food studies at New York University, wrote of such programs in a recent study.
The program is funded through grant money from the USDA, which must be matched by nonfederal funds. In Maine, the matching money comes mostly from private donations. There is no state financial support, which LePage could change if he wanted to ensure the state’s low-income residents bought more healthy food.
USDA also offers assistance and financial support to farmers and vendors who accept EBT cards at their farms and farmers markets. This includes free equipment for SNAP transactions and reimbursements for the costs of administering them. Some markets in Maine, however, have difficulty processing transactions electronically because of spotty cellular or wireless service in rural areas. This is another reason to speed the buildout of broadband in Maine.
Bookkeeping is also time consuming. The Maine Federation of Farmers Markets does much of the administration, which consumes much of the time of its two full-time and one part-time employees. That leaves little time for outreach to ensure people who qualify are aware of the program. The Department of Health and Human Services does help with outreach.
The grant-funded Maine programs are new, so data on its success haven’t been collected, but farmers reported selling more produce last year. In addition, a similar Massachusetts pilot project has documented success, increasing fresh fruit and vegetable consumption by 25 percent.
Cooking classes and demonstrations are offered at markets and other locations through a program called SNAP-Ed. Encouraging people to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables is a first step; teaching them quick ways to prepare it ensures the food will be eaten and purchased again.
Numerous groups are working hard, using federal and private funds, to increase access to healthy, locally grown food — which, by the way, can also improve the health of the Maine economy by boosting sales from the state’s farmers. If the governor is truly concerned with improving the eating habits of Mainers, poor or not, he’d tout these efforts in his frequent town hall meetings and include some state funding for them in his budget proposals.
