FAIR FOOD NETWORK’S DOUBLE UP FOOD BUCKS COMING TO MENOMINEE HISTORIC DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET ASSOCIATION

From Menominee Farmers Market — Blog by Menominee Historical Downtown Farmers' Market

May 2, 2011

Menominee, MI, April 29, 2011 Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) is coming to Menominee Historic Downtown Farmers Market Association starting the first market day in June. DUFB, an initiative of the Fair Food Network, encourages healthier eating and provides greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables for low-income Michigan families. For every $2 spent on fresh food at participating farmer’s markets, Bridge Card holders receive $2 worth of DUFB bonus tokens (up to $20 in tokens per visit) which can be used to buy fresh Michigan-grown produce.

Double Up Food Bucks in Menominee Historic Downtown Farmers Market Association s funded by a generous grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation, & Open Society Foundations.

Since the program started as a pilot in the fall of 2009 at Detroit’s Eastern Market, it has grown to 42 sites around the state thanks to generous funding from more than 25 local, state, and national foundations. DUFB has already proved highly successful: from August to October 2010, low-income families used their federal food assistance dollars, and matching DUFB tokens, to purchase $203,451 worth of locally-grown produce from 15 participating farmers’ markets, and those dollars flowed directly to small farmers and their rural communities.

“Our goal is to help Michigan families in need get twice as much food while stretching their grocery budgets in a healthy direction, and by all accounts it appears that we are starting to accomplish this objective,” said Dr. Oran Hesterman, president and CEO of Fair Food Network. “And the strong collaboration of so many supporters has enabled us to grow the program throughout Michigan on a faster timetable than we had anticipated.”

Market days at Menominee Historic Downtown Farmers Market Association at 1st Street and 8th Avenue, Menominee are starting Saturday May 28, and Thursday June 2, 2011. Our hours are Saturday 9am to 1pm and Thursday 3pm to 7pm
For information on getting a Bridge Card, call the Michigan Department of Human Services at 1-888-MIBRIDG, visit www.michigan.gov/mibridges or contact your local food bank, Feeding America at 616-784-3250.

For more information on Double Up Food Bucks, visit www.doubleupfoodbucks.org.
Watch an award winning video about Double Up Food Bucks at www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoHM11PGPKg&feature=player_embedded

About Fair Food Network
Fair Food Network (FFN) is a national nonprofit dedicated to building a more just and sustainable food system. FFN works at the intersection of food systems and social equity to guarantee access to healthy, fresh and sustainably grown food, especially in underserved communities. FFN implements model programs and brings the right people together to generate ideas, share resources and promote policy changes to repair our food system. To learn more about Fair Food Network, visit www.fairfoodnetwork.org.