Business associations adore farmers markets because they revitalize depressed downtowns, bringing shoppers into otherwise ignored areas. Communities love them because they turn a parking lot or empty city street into a colorful and festive weekly commons where friends and neighbors can meet and linger. Farmers frequent them because they can capture 100 percent of the retail value of their products, helping revive a flagging small farm economy.

Yet, there is one group that has been excluded from the benefits of farmers markets: food stamp recipients. In the 1996 Farm Bill, Congress mandated that food stamp benefits (now known as SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) go from paper coupons to debit cards. The rationale behind this was to reduce fraud as well as the stigma associated with using food stamps. Food stamp recipients would have a plastic debit card to swipe at the checkout counter, just like an increasing number of middle class shoppers were using. This policy change proved to be successful in both of its goals. However, it left farmers markets unable to continue accepting food stamps because most of them had neither electricity nor a phone line to operate the necessary terminals. As a result, the value of SNAP benefits redeemed at farmers markets plunged by 71% in real dollars from 1994 to 2008. This decline was a loss felt by low-income shoppers and limited-resource farmers alike.

Now, in 2010, with new handheld credit/debit card terminals and inexpensive cell phone services, about one of every six farmers markets accepts SNAP cards. Many farmers market managers are finding creative ways of attracting SNAP customers and processing their cards. In some markets, SNAP, debit card and credit card customers go to a central table, hand over their cards and receive wooden tokens redeemable at any market stall. As New Orleans market wizard Richard McCarthy says, “We turn plastic into wood.” And this wood is quickly converted into delicious food as the shoppers make their way through the market.

As simple as this alchemy sounds, not all farmers markets have the capacity to take plastic cash. Despite their recent surge in number and popularity, many markets are volunteer-operated with shoestring budgets. Terminals remain expensive, about $1,000 each. Many of the nation’s 40 million SNAP recipients are not aware of farmers markets in their communities or perceive them to be too expensive or inconvenient. As a result, SNAP benefits comprise only thirty cents of every $100 spent at farmers markets.