skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Hey, Minnesota, it's Harvest Season

play audio
Play

Monday, October 9, 2017   

ST. PAUL, Minn. – After a cold, wet summer and a September that was all over the place, Minnesota farmers are bringing plenty of produce to market in October. This is good news especially for lower-income Minnesotans who are doubling their federal food assistance money with a state program called Market Bucks.

Patti Whitney-Wise, program manager at Hunger Solutions, said nearly a half-million Minnesotans - or one in twelve - receive SNAP.

"They're able to use their SNAP money up to $10 at a time, get it doubled to $20 and then purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at the local farmers market,” Whitney-Wise said; "which is often one of the hardest things for them to purchase because they're expensive in the stores."

SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; formerly known as food stamps.

Whitney-Wise said with Market Bucks, low-income families eat healthier, while farmers and farmers markets sell more.

"They've seen farmers who then give these families extra because they know how much it's appreciated,” she said. "Those families then become attached to those markets and the farmers in those markets so that sense of community is another piece that I think is really wonderful."

In 2015, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to fund SNAP incentives for farmers markets. Support was bipartisan.

Bill Boutang is president of the Minnesota Farmers Market Association. He also runs a farmers market in Grand Rapids, where he said tomatoes came in late but great. He said the Market Bucks program gets more popular every year.

"So that money stays in the community,” Boutang said. "It's just a win-win for the farmer. It's a win-win for folks trying to extend their benefits to feed their family. They're eating better. It's fabulous."

About 80 percent of farmers markets in Minnesota participate in the program.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021