Lakeland’s Downtown Farmers Market is now accepting SNAP benefits as a form of payment.
Organizers said they’ve been trying to get this plan in place for years. With help from students at Florida Southern College and local farmers they were able to make it happen.
Debbie Butts sells produce and says this is something she’s been pushing for since the beginning.
“Yeah I’m all for feeding people,” Butts said. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Erik Rentria and his family are digging up and pulling out some of their freshest produce to help those who wouldn’t normally be able to take advantage.
He said it’s a win, win for everyone.
“They’ll go out of their way to come out here and help us so why can’t we help them?” said Rentria.
This is how it works.
“We take the benefits, the snap benefits from the customer. They come here and swipe their card just like they would at a grocery store. But we exchange their benefits here for the tokens,” said Lakeland Downtown Development Authority’s executive director Julie Townsend.
Townsend was on hand to help explain the process to vendors.
“There are two types of tokens,” she said. "A $5 and a $1 -- the five is larger so it’s much easier to see. The red is for any item that would be EBT SNAP eligible.”
She said it’s a process that’s worth it for farmers at the market who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to this new customer base.
“Everybody deserves a better lifestyle and part of a better lifestyle is having better food choices,” Rentria said.
This weekend was the soft opening of the new program. The official kick off is next weekend. Citrus Connection is also getting in on the action by offering free bus rides to anyone with an EBT card headed to the farmers market.