The nonprofit Mills River Farm Market has been helping farmers and consumers by doubling amount of SNAP benefits used to purchase locally grown food. The town of Mills River is now using ARPA funds to help sustain that practice.

The nonprofit Mills River Farm Market has been helping farmers and consumers by doubling amount of SNAP benefits used to purchase locally grown food. The town of Mills River is now using ARPA funds to help sustain that practice.
Market managers and vendors at the markets participating in the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s Double SNAP initiative, which matches Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits dollar-for-dollar on edible items, saw SNAP transactions nearly triple from 2019 to 2020, and 80% of responding vendors said they’d experienced sales growth due to the program.