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From our friends at Healthy Monday…

It’s Monday – time to kick off a week of healthy eating. If you shop today for fresh produce, you can easilyns plan a week’s worth of delicious, nutritious menus, and what better place to begin than at your local farmers’ market? Eating locally makes sense, and farmers’ markets are one of the primary purveyors of truly local food. Still, when it comes to dollars and cents, simple economic realities often must take priority. Healthy Monday believes that people of all economic brackets should be able to start each week with fresh, local produce, so we’re delighted to hear a remarkable new program is going nationwide.

The Wholesome Wave Foundation works with farmers’ markets to provide local, affordable produce to low-income families and senior citizens. Its “Double Value Coupon Campaign” encourages people to bring their food stamps and WIC vouchers to farmers’ markets, which the foundation then doubles in value.

The benefits are threefold: Increased food assistance money helps needy families afford more food and doubling their value at farmers’ markets encourages low income Americans to eat more fresh produce and other healthy food typically sold at these venues. The money spent goes directly to small, independent farmers. And, as many studies have shown, food stamp programs act as a powerful economic spur – creating $1.73 worth of economic activity for every dollar spent.

This campaign is the brainchild of Michel Nischan, President of Wholesome Wave and executive chef at Dressing Room restaurant in Westport, Connecticut. Wholesome Wave receives funding from various foundations, which it distributes in the form of $10,000 grants to individual farmers’ markets to subsidize the double value program.

The results have been encouraging. The farmers’ market in Holyoke, Massachusetts (urban and generally very poor) implemented the program last fall and sales using food stamps jumped 290 percent. This year Nischan intends to go nationwide, funding programs in Michigan, Georgia, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Why not join a growing trend – whether or not you can visit a farmer’ market this Monday, you can start your week off with the fresh ingredients that are the cornerstone of healthy meals. Also, visit Meatless Monday, where you’ll find a wide range of delicious and nutritious meat-free recipes for your entire family. With a little planning, regardless of your current financial situation, you can fuel your body while you kick-start your week!