EBT/Food Stamps

Overview

As part of an effort to provide access to healthy, nutritious, farm fresh foods to the entire New Haven community and subsequently increase food security for thousands of residents who are otherwise nutritionally at-risk, City Farmers' Market Wooster Square became the first farmers' markets in the State of Connecticut to accept EBT/Food Stamps in June 2005.  EBT/Food Stamps are now accepted at City Farmers' Markets Downtown, Fair Haven, Wooster Square and Edgewood Park.
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How to use Food Stamps at the Markets

To redeem Food Stamps at City Farmers' Markets, customers need only bring their EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) Card, which gives access to Food Stamp benefits. Each market has a wireless terminal at the CitySeed table (look for the “Redeem Food Stamps Here” sign), which is used to swipe an EBT Card.  Customers redeem Food Stamps on their EBT Card for market tokens (scrip), which are small wooden coins marked “$1 Connecticut Grown.” The scrip are used at each of the farmers' tables to buy farm fresh foods. Customers can either browse the foods available at the market, totaling the amount of Food Stamp dollars to redeem, and return to swipe their card in exchange for scrip. Alternatively, customers can redeem a specified amount ($10, for example), which they would spend as desired to buy farm fresh foods from Connecticut farmers. Because food stamps cannot be exchanged for cash, no change can be given when scrip is spent. Instead, whole dollar amounts are spent in scrip and ordinary coinage used to make up partial dollar amounts. If an amount scrip is purchased over and above what a customer may actually want to spend at one market, it can always be put back onto the EBT Card. However, customers are welcome to hold on to scrip for the next market day!

EBT/Food Stamps Additional Resources

1. The USDA's Food Stamp Program (www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/Default.htm ) provides a summary of the Food Stamp Program and EBT, and provides online prescreening and information for prospective applicants to the Food Stamps Program.

2. The State of Connecticut Department of Social Services (www.ct.gov/dss/cwp/view.asp?a=2345&q=304872#FoodStamps ) administers the distribution of social services such as Food Stamps in Connecticut.

3. End Hunger Connecticut! (www.foodstampsct.org/ ) provides information about Food Stamps in Connecticut including directories of local DSS offices.

4. The Connecticut Association for Human Services (www.cahs.org/community/index.htm ) provides resources for community outreach including Food Stamps resources.