Food Assistance Benefits Doubled at Woodstock Farm Fresh Market Trefoil Gardens is partnering with Wholesome Wave Georgia, a nonprofit that works to increase access to local fresh food, to offer Georgia Fresh For Less — a program that has incentivized thousands of people to spend more than $3.6 million on local produce since 2009. This market season, the Woodstock Farm Fresh Market is one of the many producer-only farmers markets and direct marketing farms in Georgia that will sell its produce to federal nutrition assistance beneficiaries who will receive twice the value for their benefits through Georgia Fresh For Less. To participate in Georgia Fresh For Less, residents with food assistance benefits simply swipe their EBT cards with Trefoil Gardens in exchange for tokens. Shoppers receive free fruit and vegetable tokens worth the same as the amount of money they debited on their card. A $10 swipe equals $10 in EBT tokens and $10 in free fruit and vegetable tokens, for instance, to spend on market items. Woodstock’s Farm Fresh Market is located on Market Street in downtown Woodstock and is open Saturdays through December 18 from 8:30am-12:00pm.While there are very few outside-the-perimeter Georgia Fresh for Less partner markets, this is the only partner market in Georgia that is 100% collaboratively operated by vendors without the support of market management. Trefoil Gardens, a local Woodstock grower, began offering the program in 2018 and sharing the benefits with any qualifying vendor who had an interest in growing the market reach and serving our less fortunate neighbors. Trefoil Gardens recently received Wholesome Wave Georgia’s Innovation and Cultivation Grant for the second year in a row and will use the funds to enhance signage and add maps at the market to help guide customers to participating vendors, among other improvements and marketing strategies.By increasing the affordability of farmers markets, Georgia Fresh For Less makes nourishing choices accessible for Georgia’s food-insecure families and promotes healthy eating habits. Additionally, by bringing shoppers to the farmers market who may not have gone otherwise, Georgia Fresh For Less helps more people connect with fresh food growers, which strengthens local communities by pumping money back into them. According to Wholesome Wave Georgia, 78% of program participants surveyed in recent years said they increased their produce consumption while 90% reported an increase in farmers market visits since using the program.
to your business!