Vermillion Area Farmers Market Receives SNAP Permit!

This morning I received our Farmers Market Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program permit in the mail.  What a great Valentine’s Day present!

This brings us one step closer (and the biggest step, at that) to accepting EBT/food stamps at our farmers market here in Vermillion.  I’ve been calling all the board members to share the excitement.

More Updates in Farmers Market Food Stamps

I heartily apologize for the continual babble on this topic, but considering we’d be one of the first markets in SoDak to accept food stamps and perhaps debit cards, the information can be a little cloudy and/or hard to come by.

The wireless EBT machine: I’ve learned now that it basically operates like a cell phone.  From recent information updates, apparently the $1250 cost is for the machine itself (along with extra battery and 3-year warranty).

It’s kind of like signing a cell phone contract and getting a phone: you get to keep the machine, but you’re also signing a contract with (in this case) Verizon.  That comes to about $65/month along with per-transaction fees of 25 cents for food stamp purchases and 40 cents for debit purchases (don’t know about credit).

It sounds like you can go inactive and not have that monthly fee (nice for markets that don’t go year-round).  What I’m wondering now is, does eBay have used wireless EBT machines that would be cheaper?

More About Farmers Markets and Food Stamps

The thing that makes this lengthy and complex process rewarding is that there are so many helpful people who want to see it happen.  Let me just say that I heart Sandy Vanneman at the Dept. of Social Services soooo much. She’s one of those people who really want to make good things happen, and will take the time to call you back, answer your questions, be patient and friendly.  Bless that woman.

There are options for both wireless and wired (land-line connected) EBT machines for use at farmers markets.  The wireless machine sounds great because it allows us to accept debit cards with PIN as well as food stamp purchases, and how often do we have customers who show up with just a little cash and not wanting to write a check?  That happens a lot at our market.

But the wireless set-up costs $1250 per year, plus 25 cents for each EBT/food stamp transaction and 40 cents for each debit card transaction.  The transaction costs might be absorbed with slightly higher vendor fees, but the $1250 is a huge part of our budget–like almost all of it.  So, that would have to be a grant purchase if we wanted to go that route.

The wireless machine, as I understand it, would also allow us to bypass the voucher system that we’d need to use with a land-line based wired machine.  Instead of having the market manager or individual vendors call for authorization on each transaction and then, at the end of market, gather all the vouchers and take them home to report them using the land-line based machine, we could just do the transactions on site.  Huge time and labor savings, with less opportunity for human error that could cost the market money.

Anyhow, this whole thing needs to go through our Board for consideration.  But, I can still fill out the registration form.  And by the way–that glitch I was talking about earlier with not being able to fill out the form?  They’re very understanding about that, and you can call for the print form to fill out “the best you can” in order to bypass that persnickety online form that won’t let you progress unless you fill out every bit.

When you fill out the form for a farmers market, you need to include/attach a list of vendors to be included and what they sell.  I was told it was OK to go by last year’s list of vendors.  The Dept. of Social Services folks are also willing to come down and give a free demo/instruction seminar for vendors and market managers who want to learn how the system works.

Number to call to request the print form (which you really have to use if you’re a farmers market): 877-823-4369.  You have to assert yourself in asking for the print form–otherwise they will try to direct you to the online form.

Update on Food Stamp App for Farmers Markets

I’ve hit a glitch on the Farmers Market EBT/food stamp application.  The USDA form for applying is for a store with an owner, not an organization that doesn’t actually sell anything, only makes it possible for others to sell.

While there is a spot at the bottom of the first page for indicating that the applicant is a farmers market, it’s impossible, as a farmers market, to fill out the rest of the first page.  And you can’t even look at the next page until you completely fill out the preceding page.

Considering you have to accept an agreement that says they can put you in jail for giving incorrect information or trying to hide anything they ask you for, I’m waiting on this until Monday, when I can call the (very pleasant and helpful) guy in Bismark who processes the completed forms.

It’s hard for me not to get a little paranoid about this whole thing.  Sure, the USDA says they want to make it possible for markets to accept food stamps (the program is now called SNAP–or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), but if they really do, they should provide a separate form for markets that acknowledges that markets often do not have an owner, do not sell anything, and sometimes are forced to change locations.

What I’ve learned thusfar in my research is that according to the Dept. of Social Services, currently there are no markets in South Dakota accepting EBT/food stamps.  That’s not to say there aren’t individual vendors who are doing it, but individual vendors who do probably have pretty serious sales volume in order to make it worthwhile.

Our idea is to form a collective (uh-oh–is this socialism?) in order to allow all vendors selling approved foods at our market to accept food stamps, no matter what their individual volume of sales.  This would seem like a pretty standard goal for small to medium-sized markets, where the work required by such a collective system isn’t overwhelming for the (mostly volunteer) market management.

But it looks like the USDA isn’t really prepared yet to do what they say they want to do.  I’m not daunted though.  I’m happy to help them adjust.  😉

Food Stamps at SD Farmers Markets–the Rumors Dispelled!

I have spent the better part of two days calling and e-mailing and researching, trying to find out how the Vermillion Area Farmers Market can accept food stamps (now called SNAP).

I talked to people who thought Huron Market was already doing it (they aren’t, though they researched it), and I talked to people who thought that we were already doing it in Vermillion (we had done some preliminary research).  I also talked to someone who told me no markets are doing it in South Dakota.

For how incredibly complicated the process of finding the right people to talk to was, the process of actually doing it seems relatively simple and straightforward and cheap.

Here’s what I’ve learned thusfar:

The State (or company the state contracts with) provides one EBT machine per location and the training to use it.  Your market does not have to buy a machine/card reader to be able to accept food stamps.

If you do not have a landline or electricity on site, you can use a cell phone to call in and determine the amount of benefits a customer has and use a (provided) voucher system, recording the card info on the voucher, keeping a copy (or two–not sure yet) and then processing the benefits after the market using the machine connected to a landline.

In our case, it would make sense for the market itself to fill out the vouchers and use the machine, and to reimburse food vendors for the EBT/food stamp sales they make.  From what I have been told, the company that the state contracts with will deposit the food stamp funds directly into the market’s bank account a few days after the transactions are processed–so the market won’t be left hanging for weeks, putting out money to reimburse vendors, but not getting anything back.

The person to contact about getting set up to accept food stamps at farmers markets (at least for our fair state of South Dakota) is Sandy Vanneman.  Her number is (605) 773-6527.  It took me two days of calling people to get to that point, so you’re welcome for the shortcut!

I don’t know if what I was told about no markets in South Dakota accepting EBT is true, but if it is, I’d wager it’s because it has been such a lengthy process to figure out who to talk to.  Let’s clear the air about this and get the markets of SD on board–for the good of the people, the vendors, the communities.

I’ll update this post (or create new posts) as I find out more information and go through the process for our market.