Essentia
Health supports farmers markets in Northeast Minnesota to increase food dollars
for low-income residents who are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) participants through an EBT-matching program. The Lincoln Park Farmers
Market and the Hilltop Market in Duluth, as well as the Virginia Square Market,
accept EBT from SNAP users as a form of payment and provide a one-to-one match
of up to $15 per day. Hunger Solutions Minnesota, a hunger relief organization,
provides the first $10 of the match and Essentia Health contributes the
remaining $5. Last year, Essentia’s matching contributions totaled
approximately $5,000.
The benefit
of the match program is twofold: low-income customers are able to stretch their
food assistance dollars to purchase healthy, local foods and producers are
fairly compensated for their goods. This helps to build stronger, more
inclusive communities.
During the
last farmer’s market season, SNAP participants used $4,880 from their EBT cards
at farmers markets in Duluth and Virginia, resulting in $10,046 circulated into
the local farm economy. At the Lincoln Park Farmers Market, there were more
than 100 new SNAP participants this year. A survey conducted at the Lincoln
Park Market found that 42 percent of customers used an EBT card, 72 percent
indicated that they had been introduced to new foods and 91 percent thought
their health was impacted positively by the market.
Along with
fund matching at farmers markets, Essentia Health also partnered with Second
Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank to transform its traditional food shelf
program to be a healthier model of distribution. With a $15,000 grant from
Essentia Health, the food shelf implemented the “Nudges” model of behavioral
cues to make the healthy choice the easy choice in its food shelf and
encouraged agency partner networks to transform their food shelves. In total,
16 different food shelves and 47 staff and volunteers were trained on “Nudges.”
Since implementation on July 1, the food shelf has seen a 27 percent reduction
in the number of baked good distributed and a 48 percent increase in the
distribution of fruits and vegetables.
In addition,
Essentia Health stepped up to help make healthy and nutritious foods like fresh
fruits and vegetables more accessible to Aurora families and seniors with
limited transportation after the 2016 closure of the town’s only grocery store.
Essentia, the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, the Rutabaga Project and
Arrowhead Transit launched a new bus route providing free transportation from
residents’ homes in Aurora to Super One in Biwabik and IGA in Hoyt Lakes.
Essentia Health in Aurora contributed a total of $6,000 to run the bus for free
each week.