MAINE, Maine — Starting Friday, more than 20 farmers and farmers’ markets across the state are hosting online fundraisers to support the Maine Harvest Bucks nutrition incentive program.
Maine Harvest Bucks provides low-income shoppers who use SNAP-EBT benefits with bonus bucks at farmers’ markets to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Jimmy DeBiasi with the Maine Federation of Farmers' Markets said it’s an added incentive for people who qualify for SNAP to purchase fruits and vegetables because it's like doubling their purchasing power.
DeBiasi said Maine has farmers' markets that run from Kittery to Presque Isle who participate in the program, and the money raised will stay with local farmers.
"That's money that goes into their pockets, into their employees' pockets, and back into the local economy," DeBiasi said. "The wonderful thing about the Maine Harvest Bucks Program is, with SNAP, we are talking about tens of millions of dollars a month that goes into people’s pockets to buy food. And Maine Harvest Bucks, we are directing those federal food dollars back in the local economy, rather than the big box stores and grocery stores where it’s going to producers in other parts of the world."
DeBiasi said in a recent survey one in three people reported Maine Harvest Bucks allowed them to not need a food pantry or not rely on them so much.
Anyone interested in donating to the fundraiser for the Maine Harvest Bucks program can visit the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets website for more information.