07.01.2020 - By Heritage Radio Network
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment—and therefore food insecurity—has skyrocketed. At the same time, farmers that sell their food at farmers markets have faced multiple economic challenges, as they lost sales to restaurants and some markets shut down in the name of social distancing. Amy Crone has worked on multiple initiatives that help connect food insecure families that receive federal food benefits like SNAP to their local farmers' markets. In this episode, she talks to host Lisa Held about MarketLink, which allows farmers to access the technology they need to accept electronic payments and federal nutrition benefits, and SNAP incentive programs like Maryland Market Money, which allows low-income families to buy even more fresh, healthy food at markets.