Last farmers' market season, over 25,000 low-income mothers and children were able to buy more fresh produce, under a joint public-private initiative coordinated by the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.

Eligible participants in the federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program received $80 in farmers' market checks last summer—four times the amount historically allotted by the program. WIC families used the checks to buy fruits and vegetables at more than 30 farmers' markets throughout Philadelphia.  

The result? Between June and December last year, families redeemed nearly 85 percent of those additional WIC farmers' market checks. That's equivalent to nearly $1.3 million in fruits and vegetables for families. By comparison, when WIC participants received only $20 in farmers' market checks in previous years, redemption rates averaged around 50 percent.

“The project successfully demonstrated that there's huge pent-up demand for fresh produce among low-income families," said Coalition Executive Director Carey Morgan. "Moms want to feed their kids fresh fruits and vegetables, but many of them can't, because it's cheaper to buy less healthy, processed foods. The WIC Farmers' Market checks project is one way we can help families afford more nutritious foods for their children.”  

To fund the initiative, Pennsylvania tapped more than $1 million in federal stimulus funds available to states last year. Federal funds were matched by more than a quarter-million dollars from private funders, including the William Penn Foundation and the Delaware Valley Regional Valley Planning Commission.

“It makes me feel good to be able to buy fruits and vegetables for my girls,” said Shearine McGhee, a 31-year-old mother of two young girls, ages 2 and 5. "I feel blessed that we were able to receive these checks this year. I want my girls to be healthy and have a good start.”

Related Stories:

• "Low-income mothers get help buying fresh food," by Alfred Lubrano, Philadelphia Inquirer (9/30/10)
• "Stimulus funds increase farmers' markets food stamps," by Kerry Grens, WHYY (9/28/10)
• "New farmers' market, new options, for poor in South Philly," by Karin Philips, KYW Newsradio (9/29/10)
• "Farmers' markets here give families healthy help, by Queen Muse, Philadelphia Daily News (9/29/10) 
  

Research and Evaluation:

• "How are WIC participants using farmers' markets?" [PDF] A research poster prepared for Community-Driven Research Day (10/28/10). Sponsored by the Philadelphia Collaborative Violence Prevention Center, the Center for Public Health Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, the School of Public Health at Drexel University, and the Office of the Provost at Temple University.