Instituting a bonus incentive project is
one approach farmers' markets are using
to attract SNAP customers. These
projects provide matching “bonus
dollars” in the form of tokens or paper
coupons for purchases made with SNAP
benefits. The incentives, funded by
private foundations, non-profit
organizations and local governments, are
structured to improve the purchasing
power of low-income families at farmers’
markets so that they can afford to buy
more fruits and vegetables and other
healthy foods.
While FNS fully supports healthy
incentive projects, these projects run
counter to SNAP “equal treatment”
regulations, which specify that “no
retail food store may single out coupon
users for special treatment in any way;”
Therefore, farmers’ markets that plan to
implement a healthy incentive project or
are already operating an incentive
project must inform FNS when asked as
part of their initial authorization or
subsequent reauthorization in SNAP. No reporting other than that
required by the sponsoring organization
is required to comply with FNS rules and
regulations.
