EAST HARLEM — The Heath Department has given away $400,000 worth of "fresh bucks" for people to spend on fruits and vegetables so far this year.
On Friday, a group of kids from the Children's Aid Society celebrated the 10th anniversary of the program designed to make healthy foods more accessible to low-income families at the Harvest Home Farmers' Market on 99th Street and Third Avenue.
The “health bucks” program, which started out as a pilot program in the Bronx in 2005, allows SNAP recipients to spend more money on fruits and vegetables at markets in all five boroughs.
The way it works is you get $2 health buck voucher for every $5 you charge on an EBT card.
The $2 vouchers are also available through more than 350 organizations like schools, churches, day care and community centers that partner with the Department of Health.
“This is a wonderful program,” said Maria Tapaela, whose daughter attends the pre-early childhood program from the Children’s Aid Society. “We got apples and onions. The food is fresh here.”
Tapaela was one of about a dozen parents and teachers who went to the Harvest Home market to mark the 10th anniversary of the program.
During their visit the adults taught the kids from the Fortune Society about different fruits and vegetables. Most of the children ended up with apples.
Tapaela had not heard of the program before Friday, but because her daughter is with the Children’s Society, one of the partner organizations, she now has access to them.
She hopes to use some in farmers markets near her home in the Bronx, she added.
For the markets, the program helps them sell more produce.
The Health Bucks increase each customers’ spending power by about 40 percent, said Maritza Washington Owens, the CEO of Harvest Home, which runs several markets in low income areas.
“SNAP and Health Bucks are critical to supporting this market,” she said. “It’s a win–win.”
