Making fresh food more available

The Dane County Farmers' Market now offers everyone in Madison a choice when it comes to selecting fresh, locally grown food.

A group of concerned citizens marshaled the resources necessary to allow those in need to use Wisconsin Food Share dollars to purchase the same fresh produce, meat, cheese, baked goods and food plants available to Madison's most affluent citizens.

Kathy Sandefur sits on the board of Friends of the Dane County Farmers' Market (DCFM), a nonprofit booster organization that promotes the educational and outreach initiatives of the biweekly event to the general public. She said opening the market up to the needy is only fair.

"It's just the right way to treat people," Sandefur said. "All of us need to be treated equally and have the same access without stigma."

Paul uses food share dollars to buy groceries for his wife and two small children. He asked that his last name not be used. Since going on public assistance a few years ago, Paul found he could only spend his food share money at area supermarkets and grocery stores, but he would rather shop at the farmers' market.

There's also the question of sustainable growing practices, contributing to the local economy and, of course, freshness. Paul believes he should be able to pick from the same food resources as anyone else in the community.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 15 percent of Madison residents are at or below the income poverty line. These low-income individuals are eligible to supplement grocery budgets through the Wisconsin Food Share program.

How it works

On average, food share households receive $175 a month that's deposited into an account they can access using an electronic debit card called a Quest card.

This money can be used to purchase food at a number of preapproved retail locations across the state. But until this year, transactions between vendors and customers at the Dane County Farmers' Market had been conducted exclusively in cash or by personal check. People using food share debit cards like Paul had been left out.

"That was because no one at the market had the machinery necessary to transfer funds," said Barbara Martin, president of Friends of the DCFM. "This is a very large farmers' market that was basically off-limits to anyone who was on the food share program."

Solving the problem

So working through an organization called Leadership Greater Madison in cooperation with Friends of the DCFM, Sandefur, who also manages the food pantry at the First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Ave., assembled a team of business professionals to discover a way to convert food share dollars into negotiable currency at the farmer's market.

"Leadership Greater Madison is run through the Chamber of Commerce. And the idea is to take this leadership pool and immerse them in community issues," Sandefur said. "So we got together and came up with a solution."

The LGM team set about the task of first having the DCFM certified as an approved food share vendor. That required the approval of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services and a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Once that was done, the group made arrangements to acquire a wireless point of sale device. The scanner processes each transaction through a company based in New Berlin called E-Funds.

Now on market Saturdays, food share participants need only take their debit card to the Friends of the DCFM information booth at the corner of State and West Mifflin streets. During the Wednesday market, participants go the Sugar River Bakery booth.

"And there they run it through the debit card machine and tell the friend how much money they want to take out of their account," said Martin. "When the receipt comes through then we give them market currency we're calling Quest Market Dollars."

Friends of the DCFM pay $45 a month and 10 cents per transaction to process food share debit cards.

Range of food choices

With Quest Market Dollars in hand, food share users are free to purchase a number of specified items. And at end of each market day, vendors can redeem their Quest Dollars in cash from a Friends of DCFM representative.

Specified food items available for food share purchase include exclusively things that can be prepared at home or eaten immediately. Fruits, vegetables, bread, pies and dairy goods are among approved items. But household products such as soap, candles, flowers or shrubs are excluded.

"But if it's a tomato plant or a green pepper plant or a basil plant that produces edibles, they can buy those," Martin said. "And that's great because one fee gets them tomatoes for the whole summer instead of just one tomato."

Now, Paul and his family can have the food choices he's looking for.

"The vegetables are so much fresher," he said. "And the food share at the farmers' market allows us get better-tasting food."

Food share dollars can also be used at both the North Side and South Side farmers' markets in Madison as well as the DCFM. Paul said he prefers the market nearest his home. "It's pretty small compared to the Dane County Farmers' market," he said. "But we think the cause of bringing fresh food into the South Side is crucially important. "

Paul used some of his food share benefits to pay for his membership in the South Side community supported agriculture program. Now, every week through the growing season fresh produce is delivered direct to his door.

It's this level of choice, Martin said, that makes the food share program at the DCFM and throughout Madison work for everyone.

"The market has become available to a wider swath of our community," she said. "The reason that we think it's a win-win situation is because it includes people who were excluded before. And if we look at it from the market point of view, it brings in more money. Friends thought it was a good program because it's good for everyone."

James Edward Mills is a Madison freelance writer.