A Triple Win For Iowa
About this episode
The episode discusses the Double Up Food Bucks program in Iowa, which aims to increase access to fresh produce for SNAP participants while supporting local farmers.
Fruits and vegetables are often not the first thing many SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participants buy. Produce can be more expensive, and when you are trying to stretch food dollars to feed hungry kids (children make up almost 40% of all SNAP users), processed foods often fills more bellies. A program implemented in Iowa called Double Up Food Bucks helps stretch SNAP dollars by doubling the money spent on fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s a federally funded program active in Iowa for ten years now, and the federal and private funds spent on the program have successfully put more produce on the table. Yet also ten years old is the fight to get the state of Iowa to also contribute to the program. This year, the legislature is being asked to contribute $1 million of its $9.7 billion budget on the program, a contribution that would also be matched by the federal government. Thanks for reading At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast! Please subscribe to receive new episodes right to your inbox. It makes sense for Iowa to support the program. Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) not only helps get produce into the homes of people on SNAP, it also supports local farmers. DUFB can…
Topics covered
- SNAP benefits
- food assistance
- local agriculture
- economic impact
- nutrition
- community support
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks
Places: Iowa
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