This year, the Lillooet Agriculture and Food Society will again be partnering with the Friendship Centre Society, First Nations Health and Interior Health to run the BC Farmers’ Market Nutritional Coupon Program for the 2019 season.
If you haven’t heard of the Coupon Program, here is a little bit about it:
The program provides a way for low-income families and individuals to access fresh, nutritious foods at our local market. Each week, the person enrolled in the program through one of our partners is given $21 in coupons that can be spent on fresh meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables.
The BCAFM Nutritional Coupon Program supports underprivileged families and individuals, giving them access to fresh food that is otherwise expensive and not always an option at the Food Bank. In addition to this positive contribution to our community’s health and wellness, having the program here last year was a huge catalyst for making our market more viable. Vendors who in the past had come irregularly were showing up every week, which meant much more fresh produce available for the community. Everyone involved (our three community partners, the farmers’ market board, the participants and LAFS staff and directors) were strong supporters of the
We had great success last year, and all those involved had positive feedback about the benefits of being a part of the program. Lillooet was allotted 12 families by the program, and last year 100 People Who Care donated funds to support 12 more families/individuals in need. And we still had a waitlist!
If you are interested in being involved in the
Our goal is to support as many people in Lillooet as we can, and we hope to be able to support at least the same number as last year (24).
To learn more, check out the link to the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets video below. Note that the coupons are now $21 a week, instead of $15.
