After the deaths of both her husband and daughter, Teresa found herself the legal guardian of her 12-year-old grandson – essentially becoming a single mother in her 70s. The Putnam County, West Virginia, resident had to give up her house and garden and move to a new area to more safely care for her grandson, leaving her without a food source that had sustained the family for years.
“When my husband was living, we raised our vegetables, and I canned everything,” she said. “I never had to buy beans, corn and a lot of other stuff.”
With limited income and a growing preteen, making ends meet while also providing a healthy diet in her new role as an elderly parent was a constant struggle. Thanks to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), Teresa and thousands of others in the predominantly rural Mountain State are able to stretch their dollars to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. The program is named in honor of the former USDA Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (1997 to 2001).
GusNIP is a portfolio of three competitive grant programs funded through USDA NIFA with support from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Building on the foundation of its predecessor, the Healthy Incentive Pilot and the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives grant program, which operated from 2014 to 2018, GusNIP has provided over $270 million in funding to nearly 200 projects throughout the U.S. since its 2019 launch.
In West Virginia, Teresa and others participate in a GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Program project called SNAP Stretch, managed by the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition (WVFFC). The program allows participants in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to double, and in some cases triple, the amount of money they can spend, not only on harvested fruits and vegetables, but also on plants that produce those items, while supporting local farmers at the same time.
At the Capitol Market in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, SNAP Stretch participants receive “food bucks” for use with market vendors. Any SNAP participant is eligible to double their purchase, while grandfamily households can triple.
“When they come to the market office, we’ll learn more about them: whether they have children, they’re a senior or they’re a grandfamily,” said Capitol Market Director Evan Osborn. “Then, in turn, they’re given what looks like Monopoly money to take out into the market and shop with just like cash.”
Grandfamilies are households in which a grandparent is providing primary care to one or more grandchildren, like Teresa. According to West Virginia State University Extension Service, that operates the NIFA-supported Healthy Grandfamilies initiative, the state ranks second in the nation for the prevalence of grandfamily households. SNAP Stretch allows seniors and grandfamilies to triple their purchase amount, stretching those dollars even further.
At Capitol Market, a staff person swipes the participant’s SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card for the desired amount up to $50 and, based on their qualification, they will receive the corresponding amount in SNAP Stretch dollars. The vendors are reimbursed later for the program dollars they take in.
GusNIP has been increasing access to healthy foods since its creation. According to the GusNIP Year 3 Impact Findings Report, these projects are improving the health and nutrition of participating households. The most recent data shows participants reported higher fruit and vegetable intake than the average U.S. adult after participating.
The program is seeing significant impact in rural communities. On average, redemption sites are located in communities where approximately 14% of the population earn an income below the federal poverty level (compared to 11% nationally). As a result of GusNIP, more fruits and vegetables are being purchased and consumed by U.S. individuals and families with identified need.
“While access to fruits and vegetables is profoundly important to all communities, rural communities and communities in remote locations may experience additional barriers to access available and affordable fruits and vegetables, such as the increased transportation and food costs and travel time for consumers,” said Dr. Mallory Koenings, a West Virginia native and USDA NIFA’s national program leader who oversees GusNIP. “These additional barriers can disproportionately increase food costs for families living in rural or remote communities.”
Despite its more urban location in West Virginia’s capital city, Osborn says the Capitol Market draws many SNAP participants from neighboring, more-rural counties, with some driving several hours to take advantage of the program.
WVFFC first received funding for SNAP Stretch in 2018 with an initial $100,000 investment.
“We started with just a couple vendors in the first year, and it has grown yearly,” said Spencer Moss, executive director of WVFFC. “In 2022, we did $409,000 at 35 sites across 27 counties.”
Moss, however, does not intend to stop there.
“Being in all 55 counties is the vision because West Virginia is essentially one giant rural community,” she said. “We want to bring SNAP Stretch to all the markets and as many brick and mortar outlets as possible.”
Moss cites the benefits that extend beyond just the customers when introducing the program to potential new markets and producers.
“One of the things we’ve seen is producers taking the increased income they’re receiving by being a SNAP Stretch vendor and reinvesting it into additional farmland, new greenhouses and improved infrastructure on their farms,” she said. “It’s truly a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
“I’m so glad it’s here,” said Sheila Haynes with Jackson County Home Grown Produce, a Capitol Market vendor who was able to add a new greenhouse to her enterprise thanks to SNAP Stretch proceeds. “A lot of people benefit. Not only the customers, but the sellers do, too.”
Haynes, though, is quick to downplay her personal benefit, bringing the conversation back to the impact for customers.
“Many of these people couldn’t afford to go to the grocery store and get fresh tomatoes like they can here when they double or triple their dollars,” she said. “A woman yesterday was nearly crying she was so excited about what she was able to buy for her family.”
GusNIP-supported efforts like SNAP Stretch are helping rural communities throughout the nation not only provide healthier foods for their families but also, in many cases, are key to survival. At LEC Farm and Garden Market in Kingwood, West Virginia, three hours north of Charleston, market owner Kim Stemple has seen the program’s impact not only on the area’s low-income population but especially senior citizens.
“We have an overwhelming population of seniors in this county,” Stemple said. “Most of them are on a budgeted income and may only get $20 a month worth of SNAP benefits. When a senior is able to bring that $20 here and essentially make it $40 or $60, that’s the difference between eating for a week and eating for four weeks.”
LEC, an acronym of Stemple’s children’s first names, is a bustling brick and mortar roadside farmers market that was started by Stemple’s parents more than 20 years ago, specializing in the sale of bulk produce purchased from local growers. Like Osborn, since becoming a SNAP Stretch participant, Stemple has seen people come from all over the state – even making the three-hour trek from Charleston – because of the market’s bulk vegetable quantities for canning and freezing.
Stemple points to the pandemic as sparking what she calls a “canning culture” in the state, with younger generations, including many parents in their twenties, taking up the practice of preserving fruits and vegetables.
“When we first began taking SNAP dollars in 2019, we did around $2,500 in EBT transactions,” Stemple said. Two years later, after participating in SNAP Stretch, the number increased to more than $200,000. “We’ve been able to increase our purchase capabilities with local producers, putting that money right back into our local economy.”
And Kingwood residents are grateful.
“My husband had reconstructive surgery about two years ago, and I had to take care of him because he couldn’t walk,” said Carrie, a SNAP Stretch participant at LEC. “This program meant we could feed our family. With food so expensive right now, there would’ve been no way we could feed four kids with him not working and me taking care of him. This has been amazing for our family.”
Customers like Carrie are a common sight at LEC. According to Stemple, during peak seasons, the market takes in roughly $500-600 a day in SNAP Stretch dollars, occasionally surpassing $1,000.
“I don’t think I leave without $150-200 worth of produce whenever I come in,” Carrie said. “I wouldn’t be able to do that at Walmart and get as much as I do here. Basically, this is our grocery store. We wouldn’t be able to make it without SNAP Stretch.”
The GusNIP portfolio of funding opportunities is one tool for communities to make fruits and vegetables more affordable and strengthen the local and regional food system to make these health-promoting foods more available. To learn more about the impact of GusNIP projects nationwide, read the GusNIP Year 3 Impact Findings report.
Visit the USDA NIFA website to learn more about the agency’s Food and Nutrition Security efforts.