Doing Good Means Doing Well

What goes around comes around, in a good way

The concept of karma has always seemed logical to me. If you do good in the world and treat people well, more people wind up happy. Happy, healthy people do good things and treat others well and the circle continues. And of course the reverse is also true. Mistreated people tend to mistreat others, and that’s what goes around.

There are all kinds of warm, fuzzy, altruistic reasons for farmers markets to facilitate SNAP/EBT sales. Increasing food access is a compassionate thing to do. The fact is that operating SNAP sales and redemption adds to overhead so not everyone thinks about it also being a good business decision, and yet it is just that. Well fed people are more productive and are themselves kinder and more generous. Treating shoppers well, no matter their life circumstances, creates a loyal customer base.

Helping our neighbors balance their grocery budgets with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) funding and various nutrition incentive matching programs became even more important a few years back. Larger numbers of people than ever became eligible for those funds as pandemic protocols affected employment in so many ways. While P-EBT provided additional relief it also brought more people to essential farmers markets to shop outside. Using SNAP/EBT at farmers markets still means access to the fresher, more nutrient dense food that comes straight from the farm.

So how is it good for business? That's simple. Bringing more people and more dollars (from any source) into your farmers market means better sales for farmers and vendors. That can mean incremental increases in space rents over time, which means more money to devote to marketing, which means more people and more dollars coming to the market. It's the best chicken and egg circle of success ever. Add in Federal and local grant programs, when they’re available, and marketing partnerships to fund matching those dollars, and the effect is exponential.

While SNAP eligibility is currently under siege, the good news is that some of the worst changes won’t actually go into effect for a year or three. That means we still have time to campaign for budgets that benefit our neighbors struggling to make ends meet, and keep those dollars in farmers markets. With Farm Bill negotiations on the horizon, we’ll keep talking about the messaging we need to concentrate on as policies continue to evolve.

Meanwhile, if you’re not accepting SNAP/EBT at your market and need help getting started, check out this Nutrition Incentives 101 guide from the Nutrition Incentive Hub. There are resources available for markets with limited capacity, and accepting SNAP is one good way to increase the size and capacity of your market. Farmers have to make choices about where to participate based on where they can make the best sales. SNAP brings additional shoppers. Shoppers bring more farmers.

You do good, and you and your market does well. See how that works?

What are the tradeoffs you encounter when supporting an effort like managing SNAP sales and redemptions?