According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are more than 8,700 farmers markets listed in both urban and rural centers as of 2018, making them popular destinations for local, fresh produce. For the 45 million plus low-income Americans receiving and using monthly government benefits, farmers markets have been out of reach, but recent developments in payment technology, though, have been changing that.
In late 2019, The National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (NAFMNP) won a cooperative agreement award for its MarketLink program for farmers market support services from the USDA. As of late February 2020, the NAFMNP began accepting applications from markets and direct-marketing farmers for free EBT processing solutions, including a card reader and a one-year subscriptions to TotilPay Go.
TotilPay makes it easy for mobile vendors such as farmers and farmers markets to process EBT payments with its compliant, feature-rich and affordable POS system. This allows markets and direct-marketing farmers to use a smart device, like a mobile phone, to accept SNAP benefits which makes it more convenient to tap into a market that spent more than $22.4 million in 2017.
Please find here the NAFMNP announcement. To apply for the program, please visit www.marketlink.org/apply.