The Bentley Farmers’ Market will be introducing its new double-up bucks program, which will allow easy access to locally grown and produced healthy foods.
The program is currently run in the United States, but it’s run using government funding. The program in Canada doesn’t use government funding, so will rely on sponsorships.
The market is currently partnering with the Town of Bentley’s FCSS program, and people will be able to get themselves set up through them for the program.
“They can go to the market table and they’ll bring in, say $20, and for that $20 they’ll get $40 in market bucks, so they can spend that money on fruits, vegetables, proteins and healthy foods. This is meant to be geared towards people that can’t necessarily afford, or maybe need a little bit of a hand up to get groceries that are healthy for their family,” said Wendy Buyar, market manager with the Bentley Farmers’ Market.
“There will be designated vendors that they can actually purchase from, but that’s just so that we are assuring that it’s being used in the healthiest way possible.”
Buyar said they are currently looking for sponsors, and only have Vesta Energy at the moment.
“We were so excited when we got our first sponsor, because the Bentley Farmers Market has never done anything like this and we’ve definitely never asked for sponsorships,” she said.
Buyar said the inspiration to start a program like this came from a trip to San Diego for The Farmers Market Pros conference.
“The passion in the farmer’s market managers there about their double-up programs inspired us to want to do the same here,” she said, adding that they were able to ask for some advice for getting the program up and running in Bentley.
The goal is to raise $16,000.
“If we’re raising $16,000 we should be able to help 800 families in the 16 weeks of our market season this year.”
The market will run Saturdays beginning May long weekend from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bentley Curling Club until the September long weekend.
Those interested in becoming sponsors can call Buyar at 403-748-4809 or email bentleymarketmanager@gmail.com. They will then receive a sponsorship package.
Another program they are hoping to start up this year at the market is a community partners program, where they are trying to get local businesses involved in the market, and sponsorship in increments of $250.
“What we’re trying to do with that is bring in more family friendly things into the market, like free face painting, free balloon animals and things like that, and then creating partnerships and relationships with the local businesses,which is something that is lacking for us,” she said, adding that they are working hard to recreate those relationships.