Lawmakers help food stamps get to farmers markets

Tina Tennyson loved to make raspberry jam using the fresh fruit she bought at the farmers market in San Jose. When she recently moved to Sacramento, she hit a stumbling block: The local market didn't accept food stamps. Like most farmers markets across the state, the one held Sundays in the state capital only accepts cash. Lawmakers are considering a bill that would help the markets get equipment to accept electronic food stamp benefits cards — joining legislatures nationwide considering similar measures they hope will expand the menu of fresh food options for the poor as food stamp enrollment soars. "Everything in the supermarket is expensive, and a lot of their fruit and stuff is not ripe," said Tennyson, a 39-year-old grandmother who feeds a family of three on $300 a month. She called California's bill "a good idea." The supermarket checkout counter-style card readers operate like those used for bank debit cards, except the cards cannot be used to get cash. Only about 15 percent of the 640 markets in the state have the capability. State Assemblyman Juan Arambula said he introduced the bill to help poor people gain more access to fresh fruits and vegetables because poverty and unhealthy lifestyles lead to obesity and diabetes. Unemployment soars above 30 percent in some communities in Arambula's Central Valley district. "You have poor people who work out in the field and make very little money, and they can't afford to buy nutritious food for their families," said Arambula, an Independent from Fresno. The need is growing amid the struggling economy and persistent joblessness. Enrollment in the federal food stamp program grew by 43 percent in California from October 2007 until October 2009, according to the nonprofit California Budget Project. By comparison, the group says enrollment grew by 6 percent over the same period from 2001- 2003, the last significant economic downturn. Ballooning food stamp programs also have prompted lawmakers in Indiana, Texas, Vermont and other states to propose laws that would make it easier for farmers markets to get and use the machines, said Douglas Shinkle, policy specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "This has definitely been a popular issue," said Shinkle, who is working with a lawmaker on drafting a similar proposal in Illinois.