MISSOULA — The Missoula Farmers Markets are a popular place to buy locally grown produce, but it’s not always accessible for everyone.
The Montana Farm Direct Program aims to make local food easier to afford and attain for the state’s most vulnerable populations.
The leaders of the program are calling for more farmers to participate and more people to sign up for benefits.
The Montana Farm Direct Program began as a way to encourage more farmers to accept Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits. It’s a program under the Montana Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS).
WIC is a federally funded food assistance program that is personalized and targeted towards pregnant women, breast feeding women, mothers with children under a year old, and toddlers under five years old.
Unlike SNAP benefits, WIC is able to provide personalized education and support for young families and mothers in order to foster healthy children and healthy births.
In fact, Debbie Hirshberg, WIC Nutrition Clinic Coordinator in Missoula County, calls the program a “food prescription” because it is specialized for each individual.
As part of the goal to provide mothers with the best nutrition possible, the Montana Farm Direct Program started to connect women with farmer’s markets and local food stands.
People who participate in the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program Benefits (FMNP) receive $30 worth of coupons each summer to spend specifically at farmers markets or produce stands.
Participating farmers are able to accept the coupons the same as cash. For Hirshberg, there is crucial family bonding that can happen at the farmers market.
“For us as WIC staff, it’s exciting to see families trying new foods trying new recipes, having their kids pick out radishes for the first time at the farmers market,” she says. “We all know that there are health benefits to consuming local, fresh fruits and vegetables, and there are also social benefits.”
A person is eligible to receive the WIC FMNP Benefits if they are at 185% of the federal poverty level, which is about $2,248 per month.
They can apply for the benefits by contacting the Missoula County WIC program. To be eligible, applicants must provide pay stub information.
Another aspect of the Montana Farm Direct Program is the Senior FMNP benefits, which is almost the same program as WIC, but for older adults.
Participants in the senior benefit program must also meet the 185% level of federal poverty and they must be 60 years or older.
Seniors receive $48 worth of farmers market and farm stand coupons.
The Community Food and Agriculture Coalition (CFAC) is contracted to run the Senior FMNP Benefits, which allows for more freedom from federal restrictions and rules, according to the program’s director James Keys.
Keys has worked with CFAC for three years. While he runs his own small farm in Missoula, he leads the senior benefit program for the entire state.
“It really keeps giving back to us as an organization and to the community,” he says.
There are 2,000 participants statewide, according to Keys, with a caseload of 450 for Missoula County.
Keys sees older adults as one of the most vulnerable populations. According to an AARP study released this year, 1 in 10 adults 50 years or older experienced food insecurity in 2022.
“In Montana, there is so much isolation, and when you think about getting older and the strain that puts on your body and mind, that’s really a bit of chaos,” he says.
Seniors in the program are also assisted with traveling to and from the farmers market, and if there are mobility issues, CFAC will shop at the market and deliver groceries.
Individuals can sign up for senior benefits by reaching out to CFAC. As a non-profit entity, CFAC is able to make the application as easy as a one-page questionnaire.
Both the WIC and Senior FMNP Benefits are able to support local agriculture.
According to Hirshberg, $19,000 went to local farmers in 2023 because of the WIC benefits.
Farmers market vendors expand their customer base when they participate in the Montana Farm Direct Program because individuals who may have never come to the farmers market are now able to purchase local produce.
“There are benefits to the community, Keeping our food dollars right here in Missoula,” Hirshberg says. “The people who are growing the food are providing food for the people that live here, and the money is all coming back around to them.”
For Schuyler Hollingsworth, who has been selling honey at the Missoula farmers market for six years, there was never a question as to if he would accept farm direct coupons.
“It’s benefiting people who otherwise might not have access whether it’s fresh grown produce or honey in our case,” Schuyler Hollingsworth, a farm direct producer says.
Hollingsworth sells honey every Saturday at the Clark Fork River Market. Honey is not an acceptable food under WIC benefits, but it is for seniors.
Hollingsworth found the process of signing up easy. Farmers only need to complete a short training to be eligible.
“It’s really no hassle whatsoever as a producer and it just gives you a greater opportunity to connect with people in the community and hook them up with good stuff to eat,” he says.
Kays hopes to encourage more and more people to sign up. If their Missoula County capacity of 450 participants is not met, then CFAC loses money on the program.
“Even if you don’t think you need it, sign up,” he says. “Enjoy your coupons. Enjoy your life. Enjoy that support system, you know, because otherwise, your neighbor isn’t going to have it in five years.”
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