CHATHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Customers at the Pittsboro Farmers Market can now pay with tokens from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
What You Need To Know
- Vendors at the Pittsboro Farmers Market are accepting SNAP and EBT
- SNAP and EBT can be turned in for one-dollar and five-dollar tokens
- This is the first market in Chatham County to accept the benefits
The Pittsboro Farmers Market has been around since 1997, but for the first time, vendors can now accept SNAP and EBT benefits.
The farmers market is the first in Chatham County to accept SNAP and EBT, increasing access to a variety of fresh local vegetables, fruits, meats and breads.
“It is so nice to be able to get it on the tables of everyone, regardless of income,” Mackenzie Withington, a vendor from Lilly Den Farm, said. “Throughout all these years, people asking if we accepted Snap, EBT and we always had to tell them no.”
The push to bring SNAP and EBT to the market first started three years ago, while Patricia Parker was the market manager.
Although it didn’t come to fruition during her tenure, she’s excited as a current vendor to accept the one-dollar and five-dollar tokens for her produce.
“It’s really cool to finally have a farmer’s market that accepts EBT,” Parker said. “People are looking for healthy food, fresh food and food that they can believe in, that they know who’s growing it.”
SNAP and EBT can be used on meat, eggs, fresh produce, baked goods and more at the market.
“It’s not about just our family, it’s actually about our community,” Emily Fuller, of Heart Song Farm, said. “And it’s time to cultivate a healthier situation for everybody.”
The market is currently working on a dollar-matching program so that SNAP beneficiaries can double-up on the amount they have to spend. The market takes place year-round each Thursday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at The Plant in Pittsboro.