It’s National Farmers Market Week, and the Columbia Farmers Market — which calls itself one of Missouri’s biggest producer-only markets — is marking it with family activities and live music at its Saturday market, Missourinet reports. But the bigger news for a lot of families in our stretch of the map runs year-round and doesn’t need a special week: two stacked programs that turn a SNAP card into real grocery money at the market.
Access to Healthy Food matches up to $35 per visit for Boone County families with kids under 19 who receive SNAP or WIC, people with disabilities on SNAP in Boone County, seniors 60 and older on SNAP in Boone County, and SFMNP or WIC-FMNP voucher holders. Double Up Food Bucks matches up to $25 per visit for anyone on SNAP, with no county restriction. Stack both, and a shopper can walk away with up to $60 in matched tokens to spend on SNAP-eligible food in a single trip.
To sign up, bring an EBT card — or a WIC packet plus proof of Boone County residency, for the Access to Healthy Food program — to the Oasis booth at the market. After a short registration form, shoppers get a participant card to bring back weekly: swipe the EBT card for any amount, or provide the WIC cash match, and walk away with tokens good for produce, plants, and other SNAP-eligible items from market vendors.
The market’s next open day is this Saturday, Aug. 8, 8 a.m. to noon, at 1769 W. Ash St. in Columbia.
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