$31.5 Million Subsidies Aim To Make Farmers Markets More Accessible

It may go down as one of the great and unfair paradoxes of our time: Just as we realize the health benefits of eating more seasonally and locally, the price of doing so becomes nearly impossible for all but the wealthiest Americans. This doesn't have to add up to a lost cause, however. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a new $31.5 million program will help double the value of SNAP benefits when used at farmers markets, so a consumer relying on food stamps can get $20 worth of ingredients for $10 in food stamps. This, and other developments in efforts to get Americans to shop and eat better, explained by our old pal Michel Nischan on NPR's Salt Chat this weekend. It's worth the 15-minute listen to learn not only about the efforts but for a debate about the effectiveness of such programs as well as whether farmers markets, considered more expensive than regular super markets, are the best venue for such assistance:

[via The Salt]