Author: Jason Vaughn
Planning Unit: Powell County CES
Major Program: Local Food Systems
Plan of Work: Producing & Marketing Agricultural Products
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program is valued by Seniors and Farmers in Powell County. The program provides residents below a certain economic threshold and age, market vouchers worth $48 dollars. Seniors use the vouchers as cash at the Powell County Farmers’ Market and the farmers return the vouchers to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for reimbursement. The program is a win-win providing seniors access to locally produced nutrition while supporting our local farmers and economy. For the 2022 program year the KDA implemented new technologies to the process. Instead of paper coupon checks, seniors were issued credit cards. Farmers were forced to adapt to the technology and use smart phones to complete transactions. To address the challenge The Powell County Cooperative Extension Service had an opening week pop up market in the office parking lot. The setup allowed the Agriculture and Natural Resource Agent to work with farmers individually to get them comfortable with the process. The new system allows farmers to receive direct deposits weekly saving time. The vouchers were issued to 185 seniors in Powell County and had a redemption rate of 70%. The program provided over $6000 worth of fresh, local produce for seniors in addition to support for the local agriculture economy.
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