The Sustainable Food Center (SFC) strives to cultivate healthy communities by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. This mission plays out on Saturday mornings at one of SFC’s farmers’ markets, where a patron, Marquel, fills a shopping bag with abundant greens and crunchy carrots – healthy food for her growing boys. A recipient of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Marquel is able to use SFC’s Double Dollar Incentive Program to turn her $20 in food benefits into $40 of market-fresh goods. Marquel tells everyone she knows about the Double Dollar Incentive Program: “This program has literally been a lifesaver for us. When we can come home with twice as much healthy food, and know we’ll be putting nutritious, home cooked meals on the table – that’s the best feeling in the world.”
Sustainable Food Center’s Double Dollar Incentive Program not only supports community food access, but also creates a much-needed boost in sales for local farmers. Last year, total sales attributed to the program were $109,968. SFC runs four weekly farmers’ markets in Austin with food access programming at all markets, and plans for expansion in the near future.
SFC envisions a food secure community where all children and adults grow, share and prepare healthy, local food. For more than 20 years, Farm Aid has supported this mission with grants that support food access programming. SFC expresses gratitude “for the continued support of Farm Aid as we work to develop resources that will have a lasting impact for local farmers and our food system.”
