It’s a snap to double up that fresh, feel good feeling you get from fruits and vegetables.

That’s the promise of the recently announced $5.1 million Double Up Food Bucks grant to the Fair Food Network, which will bring more healthy fruits and vegetables to Michigan families. The U.S. Department of Agriculture grant will be matched with private funds for a total of nearly $10.4 million, according to program officials.

The funds will be used to better serve participants on SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) by expanding the program to more farmers markets and grocery store locations across Michigan and supporting new technology and other innovations.

Double Up Food Bucks is Michigan’s statewide healthy food incentive program. It simultaneously increases access to healthy food for low-income Americans and puts more money in the pockets of family farmers. Food that is grown in urban neighborhoods now has a greater likelihood of being sold within blocks of its harvest location.

Since 2009, Double Up has expanded from five farmers markets in Detroit to more than 150 sites across Michigan, benefiting more than 300,000 low-income families and more than 1,000 farmers in 2013 alone. It has added more than $5 million to Michigan’s economy. Michigan ranks #2 nationally in the number of farmers markets that accept SNAP.

“We know the program works,” says Oran Hesterman, president and CEO of Fair Food Network and a former farmer, agronomist and leader in philanthropy. “Now it will work harder for the many rural and urban consumers who lack access to affordable, fresh produce.”

True to its name, the program doubles the value of SNAP purchases made at participating sites with additional “bonus” dollars to spend on fresh-grown local produce.

So customers like Maria, a Grand Rapids resident and mother of three, can get an additional $10 to purchase Michigan-grown fruits and vegetables for every $10 in SNAP benefits she spends at her local farmers market or participating retailer.

“These kind of savings add up fast when you are trying to feed growing kids,” she says. “With Double Up Bucks I feel good about being able to put more fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. I like that … and my kids do, too.”

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, who was an early advocate of the award, is among those championing program efforts to increase the number of grocery locations and farmers markets capable of accepting Double Up Food Bucks to more than 100 locations.

“Double Up Food Bucks equips families to do what SNAP-Ed teaches – to eat more fruits and vegetables – by increasing the affordability of this healthy behavior, says Marci Scott, a registered dietician nutritionist and vice president of the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF). “The synergy between behavioral incentive programs like Double Up and nutrition education provided by MFF and its SNAP-Ed partners statewide has exciting potential.

“By working together, we can even double our impact,” Scott notes.

From Michigan’s many farms to its family dinner tables, Double Up is helping improve the state of  our community and economic health, according to Gov. Rick Snyder.

Good for Michigan.

Fast Facts
According to eligible Double Up recipients surveyed at farmers markets, more than:
• 90 percent eat more fruits and vegetables
• 80 percent buy fewer high-fat snacks

According to the 1,000 farmers that participated in 2013, more than:
• 90 percent are selling more fruits and vegetables
• 85 percent are making more money

Photos by Paul Engstrom

  Double Up Food Bucks, Fair Food Network, Marci Scott, Michigan Fitness Foundation, Oran Hesterman, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow