DA BUX For Farmers Markets

Before a farmers market can offer DA BUX incentives, it must first receive USDA-Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) authorization to accept SNAP-EBT and ideally have at least three-months experience implementing SNAP-EBT. The following guidance was developed for farmers markets to help ensure successful SNAP-EBT implementation.

Step 1: Getting set up to accept SNAP

Overview

There are two basic steps to start accepting SNAP benefits at your farmers’ market:

1. The first is an application for approval to accept SNAP by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS);

2. The second application is to receive the EBT processing machine from a service provider. You must be approved to accept SNAP benefits and have your approved FNS number prior to beginning an application to receive the EBT machine (POS terminal).

Timeline

Estimate 6 weeks for SNAP application processing and an additional 4 weeks to apply for and receive your POS terminal.

It may not take this long to start your SNAP service, but as with any federal application process there may be hang-ups and slowdowns along the way. Our best advice is to call the SNAP Retailer Service Center at 1-877-823-4369 to follow up on your application once you have submitted it. Unfortunately, there is no longer a local Hawaii contact who processes SNAP applications, so all inquiries go through the national office. However the USDA expedites farmers’ market applications because they want to encourage eating fresh healthy foods – so if you call to check on your application status you can have it expedited.

We highly recommend the feature that the USDA phone line offers to leave your phone number and have them call you back rather than waiting on hold. They return your call within a day and it’s much better than waiting on hold for long periods of time. Just call 1-877-823-4369 and it will give you that option.

Once you’re all set up, we suggest “soft launching” your SNAP service for one or two markets before a big promotional push, so that you can get used to using the machine and work out any issues before you have lots of SNAP customers.

FNS Approval

The application process for accepting SNAP is straightforward with the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. There are 3 steps:

1. Create a USDA account. This will be your online profile/password to submit the application and check on its status.

2. Fill out and submit the application online.

3. Mail your supporting documentation to FNS to complete your file.

Get started filling out the application online:

What you’ll need

In order to complete this application you will need to have the following:

• Name and Address for your farmers’ market

• Contact phone numbers, email and mailing address

• Type of ownership

• Owner/Officer Information* (names, birthdates, addresses, social security numbers)

• Estimated or Actual retail sales figures

• Employer Identification Number (EIN), if applicable

• Food categories sold (Breads/Grains, Dairy, Fruits/Vegetables, Meat/Poultry/Fish)

• Days/times of operation

*Who should be listed as the Owner/Officer?

The Owner/Officers listed are responsible for making sure that SNAP acceptance at your farmers’ market abides by USDA regulations.

One thing to keep in mind when selecting who will be listed as Owner/Officers for your farmers’ market is that at least one of the Owner/Officers listed must be currently involved in the farmers’ market operations for your SNAP authorization to be valid. If all Owner/Officers (you can list up to 4 on the application) leave the farmers’ market you will need to do the SNAP authorization process again.

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Step 2: Budgeting and Fundraising

The average start-up cost for EBT/SNAP acceptance in a farmers’ market can vary widely, and depends on several factors. In order to help you forecast and plan for your market’s needs, click through the following sections:

Overall Program Budget

Calculating Staffing Costs

Funding Your SNAP Program

Overall Program Budget

The main costs to consider are:

1. Equipment: The Department of Human Services offers free EBT machines to markets wishing to accept SNAP. If you get a free machine, your transaction fees are also waived. However, some markets like to splurge on high end equipment and other software that are not covered. See Equipment options in this guide for more information on equipment needs

2. Staffing: Are you (or is a member of your current staff) willing to take on managing on-site transactions, reimbursements to vendors, and keeping a simple weekly log of transactions at the market? If not, you’ll need to consider hiring someone to operate the program on a part-time basis. This line item can vary widely, so we’ve put together a working guide to estimating how much to budget for staff later in this section.

3. Types of Scrip: There are many options for SNAP currency at the market. Most markets use plastic cards called scrip or wooden tokens. However, in recent years there are apps available that can be accessed from a smartphone that allow for the tracking of “digital currency.

4. Promotion and marketing: Of course, if you are going to put in all this effort and investment, you want people to spend their SNAP benefits at your market! Here, the sky's the limit. We’ve put together some promotional ideas and materials for you later in this guide.

Use this budget template to make sure you’ve considered all possible costs: Budget Template

Calculating Staffing Costs

We highly recommend using paid staff to occupy your EBT booth (rather than using volunteers). Volunteer turnover is costly, as it can take time and effort to get someone trained only to have them commit for a month or two.

Staffing costs will vary widely, depending on the size of the market and the degree of involvement of the person who will act as EBT transaction coordinator. See the graphic below on how to estimate your budget for staff. For more on the various roles and responsibilities of the EBT Transaction Coordinator, see our section on Market Logistics in this Guide.

The two primary ways that markets staff their booths include:

1. Paying an interested member of their current staff an additional amount to work, OR

2. Creating a part-time position and hiring someone as an independent contractor to fill this role (this person could also handle other tasks for the market as budget allows)

You can estimate a monthly budget for compensation using this equation:

Funding Your SNAP Program

How can you pay for this added cost?

1. Vendor fees

One simple solution is to divert a portion of vendor fees in order to include EBT acceptance in your market. Look at it as giving back to the community and marketing/promotion all rolled into one. $300 a month? If you have at least ten vendors every week, that is $7.50 from each weekly vendor appearance. Twenty vendors a week? That’s $3.25 per vendor appearance.

2. Sponsorship

Another option is to explore and strengthen opportunities for collaboration in your market’s community. Approaching local businesses to support SNAP access in your farmers’ market makes sense. It would give businesses a chance to support people in the community most in need and receive the kind of publicity that can’t be bought (street cred!). One sponsor per year-- or three --what a good way to grow partnerships!

3. Social enterprise

Make stuff and sell it:

• Do you have a pool of volunteers that would love to can surplus market produce to offer in exchange for donations to keep EBT access going in the market?

• How about selling reusable market bags in your market, with proceeds going to paying for EBT acceptance? Aprons? T-shirts?

(If you try this strategy, be sure to pay GET on your gross sales.)

4. Grants

Many farmers’ markets rely on grant funds to cover start-up costs and first year of operation of SNAP acceptance in their markets. The USDA in the past has offered grants through their Farmers’ Market Promotion Program, though they are competitive and the application is time-consuming. In Hawai‘i the Hawai‘i Community Foundation lists grants offered by local philanthropic foundations.

5. Crowdfunding

Kickstarter and IndieGogo campaigns are another way to go. Each take a percentage off the total amount raised, so be sure to factor that in. Here are links to Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) and IndieGoGo (www.indiegogo.com) so you can see how it works and what’s involved. This is a good way for your regulars to support more good things in their market. This would work for a market that already has a large customer base that is active on social media.

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Step 3: Obtain an EBT machine

Free EBT machine and service provided through the State of Hawaii

In 2019, the Hawaiʻi Department of Human Services obtained funding to offer 50 new wireless EBT machines to markets wishing to accept SNAP.

In order to qualify for free POS machine and service, you must meet the eligibility criteria:

1. Applicants must be a single farmers’ market location, rather than an individual vendor or an umbrella FM organization; and

2. The farmers’ market must not have had SNAP authorization on or before November 18, 2011, the date P.L. 112-55 was enacted.

If your market meets these criteria you should contact Sabrina Young at DHS to get set up with the free wireless POS machine and service.

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Step 4: Market Logistics and Implementation Models

“How SNAP Works at the Market”

Overview

The key to efficient and successful SNAP acceptance at farmers’ markets is to set up a centralized SNAP redemption station--preferably in the front of the market--where SNAP customers come to swipe their EBT cards.

This system allows vendors to accept SNAP--without having to become an authorized SNAP retailer and provide their own EBT machines to run SNAP purchases (which is often a bigger burden then most market vendors are willing to take on!)

In this guide, we’ve compiled considerations in the following areas:

Accounting Systems

Staff Roles

Prepping Your Vendors

Accounting Systems

Special market currency (“Scrip”)

Most markets use a special form of currency that can be used like cash at eligible vendors within the market. Customers swipe their SNAP EBT cards and receive a form of currency that is good for use only in that particular market.

The currency is often called scrip or tokens. They are usually plastic wallet-sized cards, or round wooden or plastic chips that can be ordered in large quantities and imprinted with market logo (some companies that provide this service include GPromotional, Penbras, Mypromotional).

In basic terms, it works like this:

1. SNAP customers come to the SNAP booth to swipe their EBT cards for the amount they wish to spend that day.

2. The EBT Transaction coordinator gives the shopper the amount of scrip they ordered.

3. This special currency can be spent like cash with participating vendors throughout the market.

Smart Phone Apps

(To Be Added Later)

Staff Roles

We strongly suggest having an “EBT Transaction Coordinator” who is a paid staff person dedicated to accepting SNAP in-person at your farmers’ market.

Consistent staffing can be one of the most challenging factors of starting SNAP operations at your market. But we hope that this list of duties and the associated sections in this guide will ease the process.

Read on to learn more about the roles that various staff play for a successful EBT program at the market:

Farmers' Market Manager (or SNAP Market Manager)

Some market managers are able to take on some of the higher level tasks of running a SNAP program. Others will delegate these tasks to a special SNAP Market Manager, or even to the EBT Coordinator, depending on their experience and comfort level. These roles include:

• Going through the application process to accept SNAP. See Step 1 of this Guide: How to get set up to accept SNAP

• Educating and training participating vendors about the program, including how to accept and redeem scrip. See the “Prepping the Vendors” section of this guide for more on how to do this.

• Assessing which items are eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits, and ensuring vendor compliance. See this list of SNAP Eligible Items

• Enacting formal agreements between vendor and market outlining the rules and responsibilities of each participant See this Sample Vendor Policy and SNAP Customer Policy.

• Provides support for the EBT Transaction Coordinator

EBT Transaction Coordinator

The EBT Transaction coordinator is “the face” of the program, especially among SNAP customers. Customer service skills are key, as well as organizational skills and attention to detail. They must be present at every market, as a consistent presence is key to the success of the program overall.

Basic responsibilities include:

• Booth set-up and breakdown, including safe storage of market equipment and records (see market checklist (link))

• Providing and recording EBT transactions during the market

• Providing SNAP customers with an overview of how the program works at that market, the rules that govern the program, and which vendors and items are eligible. See this list of SNAP Eligible Items (link).

• Arranging for reimbursements to vendors

• Completing logs detailing each customer transaction, payment to vendors, and running tally of scrip supplied to and redeemed by customers.

Expanded responsibilities. If you can afford a few extra hours, you might consider the following responsibilities as well:

• Customer surveys to gauge interest and refine market outreach efforts to increase EBT traffic

• Developing outreach materials to publicize your EBT program

• Inviting related social service organizations to visit the market to offer related community resources

• Hosting demonstrations and educational events at the market (cooking demonstrations, gardening tips, etc.)

Other roles

Some markets choose to fold in EBT transaction coordinator role with another role that your market team may already have, or may need to add. Some ideas include:

• Social media promotion

• Other marketing promotions

• Coordinating special events

• Grant writing and fundraising

• Farmer outreach

Prepping Your Vendors

It is very important to be clear with vendors in order to avoid confusion, fraud, and promote the program efficiently. Some basic things vendors will need include:

1. Help understanding the rules of accepting SNAP

Vendors need to know the rules of SNAP acceptance at the market, including:

• Which items are eligible for purchase with SNAP dollars

• They cannot accept more than the value of the purchase

• They cannot give a customer regular currency change in exchange for SNAP dollars

2. Signage

It is helpful to provide signage to your vendors, so that shoppers that can identify them as accepting SNAP. Vendors should place the signs where customers can see them, directly at their booth. See sample vendor signage

3. Assistance with reimbursement

Be sure to explain to your vendors both HOW to obtain reimbursement, and WHEN they will receive it. In some cases, reimbursements are processed right after the market ends (“same-day”). If vendors prefer not to wait, they may also opt to receive reimbursement at the next market.

Vendors should always initial or sign that they’ve received reimbursement from the program or market manager.

See the section on Accounting for more information on how to reimburse vendors.

4. A signed agreement

Lastly (but not to be overlooked!) vendors should be required to sign an agreement or contract with the market or the program manager so that they can accept the SNAP dollars and obtain reimbursement from the market or program. Here is a sample agreement you can use as a template. Sample vendor agreement

• It’s recommended that every vendor at the market sign this agreement, whether they will be participating in the SNAP program or not, so that they understand what is and is not SNAP eligible.

Be sure to provide a copy of the contract to participating vendors.

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Step 5: Publicity & Promotion

Once you initiate SNAP acceptance at your market you’ll want to let people know! We have found that many SNAP customers come to the market because they see signs advertising SNAP acceptance or they hear about it by word of mouth. Promotion for SNAP acceptance is very important and requires diligence and patience, as we are combatting decades of misunderstanding that SNAP benefits are not accepted at local farmers’ markets.

Community Outreach

Create social media graphics, flyers, posters, postcards, and signs to promote your market’s SNAP program, and share them online and at places where you know you’ll find SNAP shoppers (see the list of ideas below!)

• TIP: For locations that have an online presence, ask them to promote your SNAP program through their social media or e-newsletter! Be sure to provide them with all the details and a digital graphic in order to make sure their clients see the message.

• TIP: Always use “SNAP” in your promotional materials. Though the term “EBT” is more commonly understood – EBT actually refers to Electronic Benefits Transfer -- the card itself, which is also used for cash benefits including disability, TANF, and refugee benefits (these recipients can withdraw cash from their EBT card, which we cannot do with SNAP benefits).

• TIP: Using an image of the Hawaiʻi state SNAP card is useful for easy recognition.

See sample SNAP Market signage, social media graphics, and promotional postcards

Advertising

• TheBus on Oahu offers a PSA service to local nonprofits where you can have a placard placed on each bus for the duration of a month to advertise your service.

  For information about advertising TheBus, please contact:

Kinsen Co. Ltd.
Sky Hi Media LLC, local Hawaii representative for Kinsen Co. Ltd.
1000 Bishop Street, Suite 608
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone: (808) 521-0006
Email: reid@skyhimediallc.net
www.kinsen.co.jp/hawaii

• Media: Local media outlets including TV, radio, newspaper, and local publications such as health and wellness magazines have been really interested in covering SNAP acceptance at local farmers’ markets.

• Signs: Signage is key for farmers’ markets. We recommend banners and/or sandwich board-style signs placed strategically at high traffic areas near the market such as bus stops, traffic signals, etc.

Special Promotions and “Double Up Food Bucks”

Providing special discounts or promotions just for SNAP shoppers is always a win! In fact, communities around the islands (and nationwide) have attracted SNAP shoppers to their markets through a program called Double Up Food Bucks. Double Up (known sometimes in the islands as “DA BUX”), offers shoppers an additional dollar for each dollar spent in SNAP benefits on locally-grown produce. These programs require additional funds, but have been gaining traction among funders in recent years.

More information can be found at www.DaBux.org.

Community events

A great way to spread the word about your farmers’ market and SNAP is to host community events such as cooking demonstrations with culturally relevant foods, nutrition events, kids activities, health events, giveaways, etc.

There are many local resources, groups, and individuals who are excited to partner with a farmers’ market to offer these services, and gatherings like these center your farmers’ market in a true community. Collaborating with social service, health, nutrition, wellness, and even gardening or arts organizations is a great way to add to the value and complexity of your market.

Cooking demonstrations

While hosting a cooking demo is beyond the scope of this guide, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• When planning cooking demonstrations safe food handling guidelines must be followed.

• If food samples are to be distributed at the market, the samples must be prepared in a certified kitchen and held at safe temperatures throughout distribution. A temporary Special Event Food Establishment permit must also be approved by the Sanitation Branch of the Department of Health. This permit allows food samples prepared ahead of time to be safely served to the public.

• Any food prepared on site cannot be distributed.

• It’s nice to have recipe cards to hand out for the dish being demonstrated. Many great SNAP recipes can be found here:
  https://www.usda.gov/

• Work with vendors ahead of time to make sure there will be plenty of the featured vegetable or product.

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