Sponsored by Indiana University Health, their Garden on the Go™ mobile market improves access to affordable fruits and vegetables in Indianapolis’s “food deserts.” Operating year-round, the market truck makes 16 stops a week with fresh fruits and vegetables at low income  senior housing complexes, libraries and community and  health centers. Launched in May 2011, the program managed 15,000 sales transactions in its first year.

An energetic customer at Indiana Avenue Apartments uses her EBT card weekly to shop at the market, which is set up every Friday at 3 pm in the recreation room. During a visit on May 4, 2012, she and 35 shoppers from the apartment complex, neighbors and nearby workers, purchased a variety of fruits and vegetables. Shoppers especially appreciated the fresh greens; green tomatoes were also a big seller. An efficient wireless EBT machine swiftly processed some 70% of the sales during my May 4, 2012  visit.

Garden on the Go™ was organized by Lisa Cole RN, MA as part of IU Health‘s wider initiative to address the obesity epidemic. Nutritionists and doctors such as Dr. Indra Frank, were keen to improve access to healthy foods and to provide safe places for physical activity in high-poverty neighborhoods. Dr. David McSwane of Indiana University’s School of Medicine, Department of Public Health coordinates closely with Dr. Gabriel Filippelii of the University’s Center for Urban Health.  Director Colleen McCormick of the Office of Sustainability also advocates for a University wide innovative approach to fostering improved health among vulnerable families. Mayor Greg Ballard is especially supportive with a series of initiatives directed toward eliminating hunger in his city by 2015.

Indiana State health officials report that 29 percent of adolescents and 65 percent of adults in Indiana are obese or overweight. IU Health launched a six month demonstration project in March, 2012  to track 120 Garden on the Go™  shoppers to monitor their height, weight, BMI, B/P and A1C during that time to explore “health impact” of ready access to affordable produce.

Lisa Cole said they are also tracking 25 patients under the care of a dietician at two community health clinics on  the Garden on the Go™ route. These patients are provided with a $7 per week incentive ($28 in total) to shop at Garden on the Go™.  They will track their weight and blood pressure  over 6 months as well as review broader improvements in  health impact.

Lisa said, “Garden on the Go™ is part of Indiana University Health’s large-scale initiative to fight the obesity epidemic by improving access to healthy foods and safe places for physical activity in high-poverty neighborhoods.”

Organizers even have a “Frequent Shopper Card,” stating that you will receive $5 off your next purchase for each 10^th time purchasing from the mobile market. All shoppers observed on May 4^th had their card stamped.

The enthusiasm I witnessed on my May 4, 2012 visit was undeniable. For many, a special trip to a distant supermarket with two bus transfers simply was not a possibility for them. Garden on the Go™ made the weekly purchase of high quality, fairly priced produce a possibility for many shoppers throughout Indiana.

In a news conference today, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said currently only 1,500 out of the nation’s 7,100 farmers market are equipped with EBT machines. Merrigan asked, “Why can’t it be all of them?” With the new funding, Merrigan says the USDA expects to see the number of farmers markets with EBT machines to increase by 4,000.

Gus Schumacher, Wholesome Wave Executive Vice President of Policy and former USDA undersecretary, says, “At Wholesome Wave, we’ve seen the terrific impact that EBT access at farmers markets makes.” Schumacher added, “These machines make it easier for many of the 40,000 families who participate in Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program to purchase their fresh local fruits and vegetables from their local farmers.”

According to USDA data, SNAP dollars spent at farmers markets reached $11 million in 2011. That’s money that goes directly to small and midsize farmers. Merrigan says, “This is part of a strategy to make sure that farmers and ranchers have the best possible markets where they can make the best possible income that they can.”

Wholesome Wave ‘s Double Value Coupon Program was fully launched in 2008 at farmers markets in Connecticut, California, New York and Massachusetts. In 2011, participating farm-to-retail venues, including farmers markets, mobile markets, community supported agriculture, and farm stands, saw almost $2 million in federal nutrition benefits and incentive purchases. In 2012, Wholesome Wave’s DVCP now extends to 60 partners in 25 states and the District of Columbia, over 300 venues and an estimated 2,500 farmers.

Read more about the announcement on the USDA Blog.

On May 24^th, Wholesome Wave is celebrating its New England roots and love of local food with some of Connecticut’s most celebrated culinary artists as it presents this year’s Whole Hog fundraising event. Hosted at Clarke’s Showroom in South Norwalk, Connecticut, The Whole Hog will bring together locavores, home cooks, change-makers and foodies who are passionate about the local, sustainable food movement as well as the work of Wholesome Wave.

The Whole Hog will bring together local celebrated chefs Tim LaBant of The Schoolhouse at Cannondale in Wilton, John Barricelli of SoNo Baking Company in South Norwalk, Bun Lai of Miya’s Sushi in New Haven and Joe Wolfson, the new executive chef of Terrain Garden Café in Westport. The event will be hosted by our own Michel Nischan, Wholesome Wave founder and CEO, renowned chef, author and owner of The Dressing Room in Westport.

Tim LaBant received his formal culinary training at Johnson and Wales University and began his culinary career working with Emmy Award winning Chef, Ming Tsai. Chef LaBant went on to work at the Four Star and Five Diamond L’Espalier Restaurant in Boston where he developed “big flavors using unique ingredients and a combination of new and classic techniques.” Today, LaBant owns the Schoolhouse at Cannondale in Wilton, Connecticut, which serves creative American food that is focused on meticulous preparation of New England ingredients.

A third-generation baker, John Barricelli began his cooking career at the Culinary Institute of America. His culinary experience includes having worked for one of The Elms Restaurant and Tavern in Ridgefield, CT. Chef Barricelli worked at Martha Stewart Living Productions in Westport, CT and later contributed frequently to The Martha Stewart Show. The SoNo Baking Company and Café is the creation of Chef Barricelli who had a vision of creating artisan breads, top quality French-style pastries and specialty cakes in a homey, inviting Bakery/Café.

From Miya’s Sushi comes Chef Bun Lai, an Asian American chef, environmentalist and social activist. Chef Lai is passionate about climate change, sustainable living practices and rethinking the way “life should be lived and business should be done.” Lai is owner and chef of Miya’s Sushi, which has the largest vegetarian sushi menu and is the first sustainable sushi restaurant in the world. In addition to being a proclaimed chef, Lai is an avid diver and fisherman who supplies his  restaurant with sustainable seafood from his own hundred acres of shell-fishing grounds off the Thimble Islands in Connecticut.

Joe Wolfson, executive chef at the newly opened Terrain at Westport, trained at Johnson and Wales in Charleston, South Carolina. Wolfson comes to Connecticut from Montgomery, Alabama where he was the executive chef at Ham and High, a farm to table restaurant, which sourced everything possible locally. In 2011, Food and Wine Magazine and CNN.com nominated Wolfson as People’s Best New Chef in America. He was also featured in Food and Wine magazine’s “Where to go Next,” and “What Chef’s Know Best” sections in June and July 2011. Today, you can find Wolfson at Terrain at Westport’s Garden Café, creating dishes featuring local, organic ingredients.

These four celebrated local chef’s will come together as they interpret non-traditional cuts of local, free-range pork sourced from Heritage Foods USA. The chefs will produce three selections, each of which will contain locally sourced ingredients, and at least one of which will feature a unique interpretation of pork. Accompanying the chefs much anticipated creations will be a signature cocktail as well as wine and beer, available thanks to the generous donation of Purple Feet Wines and Spirits in Westport.

The Whole Hog event will also consist of a live auction,with an array of auction packages provided by several local businesses.

Wholesome Wave looks forward to enjoying an evening among friends and supporters on May 24, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Clarke Showroom in South Norwalk. Tickets are on sale for $145 per person and are available for purchase online at www.wholesomewave.org/getinvolved.

Nora Pouillon, Duane Keller, Nell Newman & Michel Nischan

On April 23-25, 2012, Wholesome Wave held its Third Annual National Convening in Washington D.C. at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel. The convening provided our 60 partners with the opportunity to gather, learn and discuss the year’s activities with regards to Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program, Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program and Healthy Food Commerce Initiative.

When you gather a group of like-minded individuals, all who focus their lives on promoting access to local, sustainable and healthy food, it seems only fitting to provide food for the occasion that mirrors this mission. Enter Executive Chef Duane Keller of 14K Restaurant, located within the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel in Washington D.C.

Chef Keller invited Wholesome Wave CEO/President and fellow chef, Michel Nischan, along with Nell Newman,Wholesome Wave Board Chair, and Nora Pouillon,Wholesome Wave board member and founding director, to tour his kitchen while he and his staff were busy preparing Tuesday’s lunch. What they were met with was an immaculate kitchen, gracious staff, a positive environment, and delicious food.

Chef Keller, a native of Canada and a James Beard Foundation Certificate recipient, joined 14K a mere seven months ago. Since joining 14K, Keller has added his own touch to more than just the restaurant’s food. Chef Keller’s ideologies are embodied throughout the kitchen. A wall in the rear of the kitchen is lined with 8.5 x 11-inch pieces of paper bearing various Core Values, written in Keller’s own handwriting and complete with his signature. This signage proclaims such things as “Integrity. Core Value #1 with ourselves and our guests,” or “Teamwork. Core Value #2 Assist, mentor, help each other for the team’s benefit.”

In addition to the focus on such values, Keller, in his brief tenure at 14K, has prepared a menu brimming with locally and regionally sourced food, much of which is supplied by Coastal Sunbelt Produce, the leading distributor of produce and dairy in the Mid-Atlantic region. In celebration of the work Wholesome Wave and its partners have done over the past years, Chef Keller prepared a 4-course plated lunch for those attending the convening on Tuesday. Each course was seamlessly prepared and perfectly plated. The menu was adorned with ingredients ranging from Delaware strawberries, to Goat Ricotta to Maryland tomatoes, all from local farms, including Fifer Orchards Farm and Market, McGregor Farms, Hummingbird Farms, Inc., Firefly Farms, Mock’s Greenhouse and Farm, Sterman Masser Potato Farms, and Cherry Glen Farms.  The food was of the highest quality, each course standing out more so than its previous companion, culminating with the appearance of a humble and gracious Chef Keller.

While indulging in the meal, James McWhorter, Coastal Sunbelt Vice President of Sales stepped forward to describe the work of his company and why supporting local farmers was important to its leadership. McWhorter admitted that while much of the food Coastal Sunbelt distributes comes from farms around the world, as far away as Australia, “all things considered if we are going to buy ten thousands dollars worth of produce I would rather that it was right here in the Mid-Atlantic. I would rather support the local economy.”

McWhorter told the audience that he also believes food sourced locally is healthier to eat. He said, “I don’t think anyone in this room is going to argue that an apple that was picked five days ago in western Maryland and eaten tomorrow is going to be a whole lot better for you than an apple that was picked in Washington state in September and eaten in the last week of April.”

What Mr.McWhorter said was heard loud and clear by those in attendance. He concluded with a pledge of support for Wholesome Wave:

“We’re not sure where Coastal Sunbelt fits in the jig-saw puzzle that is Wholesome Wave. However, the commitment is this: we are willing to learn. We expect to hear from some of you who we’ve met here today and our promise is that you have an ally right here in the room and going forward we will do anything, within reason, that we can do to help Wholesome Wave out in the Mid-Atlantic region.”

Wholesome Wave was delighted that its partners and those in attendance at the convening were able to experience locally and regionally sourced food, excellently prepared by Chef Keller and his team. Much gratitude is owed to those at 14K, the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel and Coastal Sunbelt for providing attendees with a meal that embodied our mission and the work of our partners.

The Committee approved the bill Thursday afternoon in a 16-5 vote, including proxies. While the Farm Bill faces a long process before becoming law, Wholesome Wave’s President and CEO Michel Nischan particularly commended Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Roberts for including innovative funding to promote nutrition at farmers markets, $20 million annually.

”These incentives are sorely needed by thousands of SNAP, WIC and Seniors eager to access fresh local food at their nearby farmers markets – incentives can improve affordability and also help to improve small farmer revenues,” said Nischan.  Nischan also thanked the Committee for including additional provisions of exceptional help to farmers who are providing nearby healthy fresh food to all. Included in the Senate Agriculture Committee carefully crafted legislation, now headed for final consideration on the Senate floor, are such provisions as:

• Hunger-Free Community Incentive Grants – Nutrition incentive programs to increase fruit and vegetable purchases by SNAP customers at farmers markets. Mandatory funding averages $20 million a year over the life of the bill.
• Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program – Local food added to the existing very popular farmers market promotion program. Funding doubled to $20 million a year.
• Specialty Crop Block Grants – Funding increased to $70 million per year for five years from the current level of $55 million with provisions to allow multistate programs.
• Community Food Projects – Funding doubled to $10 million
• Innovations in SNAP – Establish pilot program for mobile technology and online ordering, as well as an amendment to permit SNAP redemption by community supported agriculture.
• Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program – Mandatory funding maintained at $20 million annually.

Wholesome Wave leadership helps lead the way in proving that federal and private support of incentive programs can be successful in getting healthy local foods into the hands of people in low-income neighborhoods. “We are encouraged to see the bipartisan support of this important piece of proposed legislation,” Nischan said during remarks at Wholesome Wave’s annual meeting this week in Washington, D.C. “We all need to be at the table together so that the voices of the underserved are never forgotten.”

In five short years, Wholesome Wave has expanded its Double Value Coupon Program from assisting a handful partners operating farmers markets in a couple of states to bringing in more than 60 partners, which support nearly 300 farmers markets across 25 states. Last market season Wholesome Wave helped serve over 40,000 federal benefits consumers who purchased produce from more than 2,300 farmers.

We can’t wait to see all of our partners and friends there.

Below is a copy of a media alert that was sent out yesterday.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Ralph Loglisci

 ralph@wholesomewave.org

MEDIA ALERT

April 18, 2012

Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program Now “Doubling” Its Reach Among Underserved – Key Leaders Will Help Celebrate Major Milestone

(Bridgeport, CT) Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit dedicated to fostering strong links between farmers and underserved communities, will outline encouraging new findings from its annual survey during its 3^rd annual meeting in Washington, DC. April 24^th and 25^th. Data announced will include Wholesome Wave programs’ impact on fruit and vegetable consumption and economic impacts among farm-to-retail venues and local agriculture.

Speakers will include Michel Nischan, CEO & President, Wholesome Wave and award-winning chef & restaurateur; Kathleen Merrigan, USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture; Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, (D-Maine); José Andrés, recently named 2012 Time 100 and James Beard Foundations 2011 “Outstanding Chef of the Year”; and Audrey Rowe, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Administrator.

Those in attendance will be members of Wholesome Wave’s more than 60 partners from over 25 states, who represent more than 300 farmers markets and 23-hundred farmers. Just one of the top key survey results reveal Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program literally doubled its reach last year among federal food benefits customers.

WHEN:   Tuesday, April 24

8 AM – Chefs Nischan & Andrés

9 AM – Deputy Secretary Merrigan

Wednesday, April 25

 8 AM Congresswoman Pingree 

 1 PM – Administrator Rowe

WHERE:  Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, 1001 14^th St NW (14^th&K) Washington, DC 20005

VISUALS:   Tuesday, April 24

10:30 AM – Michel Nischan joins Chef Duane Keller, 14K Restaurant, Executive Chef, as he prepares a 4-course locally sourced meal for more than130 guests. Local suppliers will be available for interviews.

About Wholesome Wave

Wholesome Wave is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to supporting small- and mid-sized farmers and making fresh, healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables available to all people, regardless of income. Wholesome Wave partners with farmers markets, community leaders, healthcare providers, like-minded nonprofits and government entities to implement programs that benefit consumers in under-served communities and the farmers who provide for them.

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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formally known as the food stamp program, was the focal point of a new study by the USDA. The study, released at the height of a political debate surrounding the food assistance program, found that food stamps reduced the poverty rate substantially during the recession. The study concluded that between 2000 and 2009, SNAP reduced the poverty rate by an average of 4.4 percent. In 2009 alone, the program reduced the poverty rate by nearly 8 percent.

According to statistics on the USDA web site, enrollment in SNAP grew significantly throughout the recession, with rates rising by a dramatic 45 percent from January 2009 through January 2012. These numbers leveled off in January, a change which, Stacy Dean, an expert from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities told the New York Times, could show the recovery was having an effect even among low-income families.

Despite the correlation between SNAP and decreased poverty rates, the food stamp program continues to be scrutinized. U.S. Congressman Allen B. West, a Florida Republican, emailed supporters on Monday proclaiming that the increase in food stamp use is a “highly disturbing trend” and “not something we should be proud to promote.”

SNAP is one of the largest social services programs in the United States, serving more than 46 million people, yet it is frequently overlooked as an effective service. One reason why the positive effects of the SNAP program may not be readily apparent, is that according the New York Times, the extra income it provides is not accounted for in the government’s formal poverty measure.

Kevin Concannon, the under secretary of agriculture for food, nutrition and consumer tells the New York Times that the food stamp program is one of the few remaining antipoverty programs in the U.S. the provides financial support with few conditions other than income level and legal residence.

“The numbers of people on SNAP reflect the economic challenges people are facing across the country,” Mr. Concannon told the New York Times. “Folks who have lost their jobs or are getting fewer hours. These people haven’t been invented.”

The USDA study provides figures that support the continued funding of the food stamp program. The nine years of data collected by the study found that the program lifted the average poor person’s income up roughly six percent closer to the poverty line, in essence decreasing the severity of poverty. For those families with children, the study showed that when SNAP benefits were included in the income of those families, children moved 11 percent closer to the poverty line. While SNAP may not lift an individual or family entirely out of poverty, the program irrefutably moves them closer to crossing the threshold of poverty.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to begin markups on the Farm Bill, which expires September 30, as early as next week.

“With 46 million people, nearly half children, currently receiving SNAP benefits, now is not the time to consider cutting food assistance funding,” says Gus Schumacher, Executive Vice President of Policy and co-founder of Wholesome Wave.

Schumacher, who served as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at USDA from 1997 to 2001, adds  that, “federal nutrition assistance not only puts food on the table for those who can’t afford it, it serves as a major  economic stimulus during tough times.” According to Moody’s Economy.com, for every dollar spent on SNAP benefits there is a $1.73 increase in real GDP. As the economy bounces back and employment picks up, SNAP rolls decline, providing a key counter-cyclical support.

Wholesome Wave supports current federal food assistance funding levels and also strongly recommends increased support of innovative SNAP nutrition incentives programs at farmers markets. Recent research shows that incentive programs such as Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program significantly increase SNAP recipient purchases of healthy local produce.

Please reach out to your local Congressional representatives and encourage them to do everything possible to ensure that everyone has equal access to healthy affordable food, no matter what their financial situation is.

Below is a copy of the coalition’s Farm Bill Nutrition Priorities recommendations to Congress and a list of those who signed the letter.

Protect against hunger by ensuring adequate resources for federal nutrition assistance programs and emergency food providers.

• Protect eligibility, benefit levels, and program integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to ensure that low-income Americans have the resources necessary to afford a nutritious diet and prevent hunger.
• Ensure adequate supply of nutritious commodities for distribution through emergency food providers by increasing mandatory commodities provided by The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and maintaining authorized funding levels for TEFAP storage and distribution.
• Maintain Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) authorization at current levels and focus program on improving nutrition for low-income seniors by transitioning CSFP to a seniors-only program, with grandfathered protection for women, infants, and children currently enrolled.
• Provide a tax credit to farmers to incentivize earlier donation of high quality produce to food banks for distribution through the charitable food system.

Improve nutrition and health outcomes for vulnerable populations by increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods.

• Maintain current funding for SNAP Nutrition Education to help low-income Americans make healthy choices on a limited budget, reduce their risk of chronic disease and obesity, and optimize the SNAP benefit.
• Maintain current funding for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and protect the integrity of the program to ensure that low-income elementary students have a fresh fruit or vegetable snack at school every day.
• Provide grants for SNAP incentive programs to increase the purchase and consumption of fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and other healthy food retailers.
• Strengthen SNAP national vendor standards to improve availability of healthy foods while balancing adequate access to retailer outlets.
• Maintain funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for vital research on nutrition, hunger and food security, and obesity prevention.

Strengthen community-based nutrition initiatives that link farmers with consumers and increase access to healthy food to reduce food insecurity, improve nutrition, and promote self-reliance, economic development and job creation.

• Ensure funding for existing farmers’ market, community food, and agriculture marketing and food hub development programs to improve outcomes and efficiency, meet demand, and maximize impact.
• Increase mandatory funding for Community Food Projects to improve nutrition and food security among low-income individuals and communities.
• Provide SNAP EBT point of sale devices to farmers markets, farm stands, green carts and other non-traditional healthy food retailers to improve access and increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Nutrition Priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill Signatories

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics American – Academy of Pediatrics – American Commodity Distribution- Association American Farmland Trust- American Heart Association- American Public Health Association- American Society for Nutrition – Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum – Association of Jewish Family & Children’s Agencies, Association of SNAP-Ed Nutrition Networks and Other Implementing Agencies, Association of State & Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors, Bread for the World – California Association of Nutrition & Activity Programs, California Food and Justice Coalition, California Food Policy Advocates, California Public Health Association-North Campaign for Better Nutrition, Catholic Charities USA, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Church of the Brethren, Community Food Security Coalition, Community Health Councils, Congressional Hunger Center, Defeat Diabetes Foundation, Disciples Home Missions, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, Disciples Justice Action Network, Earth Day Network, End Hunger Network, Environmental Working Group, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Fair Food Network, Farm Sanctuary, Farmers Market Coalition, Feeding America, FGE Food & Nutrition Team, First Focus Campaign for Children, Food & Water Watch, Green For All, HealthyPlanet, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, League of United Latin American Citizens, Liberty Prairie Foundation, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, Meals on Wheels Association of America, Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office, Missouri Association of Local Public Health Agencies, National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs, National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities, National Commodity Supplemental Food Program Association, National Congress of Black Women, Inc., National Consumers League National Council of Jewish Women, National Council on Aging, National Family Farm Coalition, National Farm to School Network, National Farmers Union, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Immigration Law Center, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, National Network of Public Health Institutes, National WIC Association, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, North Carolina Alliance for Health, Partnership for Prevention, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness, Public Health Institute, Public Health Law and Policy, RESULTS, Save the Children, School Food FOCUS National Office, School Nutrition Association, Shape Up America!, Share Our Strength, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, Society of St. Andrew, The Alliance to End Hunger, The Center for Communications, Health & the Environment, The National Center on Family Homelessness, The South Carolina Eat Smart, Move More Coalition, The United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries, Trust for America’s Health, Union for Reform Judaism, United Fresh Produce Association, Upstream Public Health, Voices for America’s Children & Wholesome Wave

Demand for fresh, local produce is booming. Farmers in colder climates are making investments to extend the growing season – building seasonal high tunnels  and adding new and old varieties of winter greens. Doing so allows shoppers access to benefits in the form of year-round, healthy local produce.

Farmers markets and CSAs in chillier regions are staying open through the winter, some outside, and many inside as winter markets explode. The changes are proving especially beneficial to SNAP clients and WIC families. Many of these year-round markets run Wholesome Wave’s Double Value Coupon Program, which provides nutrition incentives that open access to affordable, local produce to all families.

Christina Dedora of Blue Skys Farm, Rhode Island, using her USDA/NRCS high tunnel for the first year, "sold spring greens through Pawtucket’s Farm Fresh markets. -- Kale, lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, swiss chard, chives... all in March 2012,” said Noah Fullmer of FarmFresh RI.

“The expanded adoption of hoop house technology has enabled many smaller growers to extend their production seasons at low cost, a contributing factor to the growth of winter farmers markets. Hoop houses have allowed growers to produce locally-grown products for longer time periods and in colder climates.” USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan (USDA December 15, 2011).

In New England, Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s Winter Market, operates indoors twice weekly in an old, heated, restored mill. Some 2,000 shoppers flock to this Farmers  Market on a winter Saturday to purchase a variety of local foods, including greens, leeks, carrots and beets, grown throughout the winter nearby in seasonal high tunnels. A number in Rhode Island were funded by USDA’s innovative Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) pilot seasonal high tunnel program. Nationally, USDA supported 2,032 joint farmer/NRCS seasonal high tunnel investments in 2011, with USDA’s contribution of $11.9 million.

SNAP customers also appreciate the year round produce, with sales continuing to expand. Farm Fresh’s Noah Fulmer reports that, “SNAP dollars spent so far in 2012 at our Wintertime Market are up 88%. That’s up from $4,133 in January/February 2011 to $7,778 in 2012! An average of $30.84 of SNAP benefits are spent per transaction and 42% of customers have never used SNAP at the market before.”

Further north in Somerset County, Maine, Amber Lambke and Sarah Smith have extended their Skowhegan Farmers’ Market season year round. They discovered that shoppers actually preferred turning out at the outdoor market in mid-winter rather than the indoor winter farmers market, which they’d run previously and was poorly attended.

1 of Eli and Misty Cook’s 7 New High Tunnels, February 2012, West Virginia

In Metro Washington, shoppers at the outdoor winter markets enjoy the bounty from seven new high tunnels on Eli Cook’s Spring Valley Farm and Orchard in West Virginia and five high tunnels on Zach Lester’s new Tree and Leaf Farm, in Loudoun County, Virginia. A number of these projects were also funded by the Seasonal High Tunnel Initiative run by the NRCS/USDA. Weekly winter revenues for Cook and Lester are close to revenues at their summer markets at the well-run FRESHFARM Farmers Markets in Dupont Circle and Silver Spring, Maryland.

FRESHFARM Markets Co-Director Bernie Prince reports weekend customer counts exceeding 4,500 at these two winter markets, including increased SNAP sales. Specialty greens, fresh beets, sweet carrots and leeks are top sellers for Cook and Lester. Prince also reports that farmers value these high tunnels for hail, bird and pest control, in addition to their value for season extension for her many farmers adopting these systems.

This convergence of the use of  seasonal high tunnels,  cold-tolerant vegetable varieties and high demand for year round local and regional produce is not new.

Many of our cities in the late 19^th and early 20^thcenturies had similar systems, with farmers using “hotbeds,” and early greenhouses producing  year-round vegetables. Their produce was sold at  farmers markets such as at Boston’s Faneuil Hall, New York City’s  Washington Square, Wallabout Farmers Markets and in Washington DC at their Eastern, Western and Central Markets.

New York City, Winter Lettuce and Leek “Hotbeds” Mid- 20th Century

New York City, Winter Lettuce and Leek “Hotbeds” Early 20th Century

In New York City, “hotbeds,” were heated with horse manure hauled back to Queens County farms on market wagons from Manhattan stables. This fresh horse manure  provided the necessary winter heat for greens, leeks and carrots in the “hotbed” system.

Growers in Arlington, Massachusetts in the late 19^th Century originated these winter vegetable growing techniques  and cold tolerant seed varieties.

These  Massachusetts innovators,  Abner Wyman, Warren Rawson and W.H. Allen,  developed lean-to hothouses and “hotbeds” with straw mats to cover glass sash on hotbeds during the coldest nights.

By 1900, over 100 acres of hotbeds and hot houses were under glass in Arlington alone. Neighboring towns such as Woburn, Lexington, and Belmont were also supplying winter greens not only to Boston, but as far as New York, Buffalo, Philly and “even cities along the Mississippi River” reported historical records from that era.

Schumacher Farms Selling produce at Washington Square Farmers Market, Manhattan, New York City -1887

In the 1890s in Queens County, NYC, one of these New York City year-round farmers, my grandfather, Fred Schumacher, adapted these New England “hotbed” and greenhouse technologies . By the early 20^thCentury in Flushing,  he was growing winter vegetables. He continued to use these systems for some 40 years, until the mid-1950’s, all the while marketing year round to New York City  farmers markets.

Wallabout Farmers Market in Brooklyn, New York City -1887

Horse manure, straw mats and seed varieties all worked well for these simple, but effective winter vegetable production systems. My grandfather’s daily diary on January 13, 1912, a century ago, recorded, “was a fine day, cold, transplanted Romaine into hotbeds, sold 40 cases of leeks Washington Market, $90” .

A century later, farmers in Rhode Island, Maine, West Virginia, New York and Virginia, some with USDA funded “seasonal high tunnel” pilot technologies, are again selling at winter markets—many of the same crops that Abner Wyman in Arlington Mass sold at Faneuil Hall in Boston and my grandfather Frederick Schumacher, sold at the Wallabout and Washington Square Farmers Markets in New York City a century ago.

Now in the 21^st Century,  SNAP and WIC families are also benefiting from these adapted technologies of seasonal high tunnels and cold tolerant produce varieties, using Wholesome Wave’s “nutrition incentive” double value coupon programs again at year-round farmers markets, not just in a few northeastern cities, but around the country in 28 states at some 300 farmers markets.

Mayor Neil O'Leary and State Sen. Joan Hartley

Brass City Harvest of Waterbury, Connecticut, one of Wholesome Wave’s new Double Value Coupon Program partners for the 2012 season, hosted a press conference Tuesday (March 20, 2012) with local and state officials to celebrate joining Wholesome Wave’s national network.

State Senator Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury), Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary, Susan Pronovost, Executive Director of Brass City Harvest, and Julia Pon, Wholesome Wave’s Connecticut Program Manager, spoke to a crowd of farmers, community members, and press about the exciting new partnership and the value the Double Value Coupon Program will bring to the Waterbury community.

The partnership represents a collaboration between numerous community organizations that banded together in support of incentive programs, recognizing the need for an innovative approach to bringing healthy food to the community of Waterbury and invest locally in their farmers market and local economy.