OKLAHOMA FARMERS MARKETS

BACKGROUND

The OK Farmers Markets and Local Food Access initiative has been in place since 2011. Since then, ONIE has developed strong relationships with farmers markets across the state and is now viewed as a reliable and trustworthy resource for up-and-coming markets that wish to serve their community. 

While many farmers markets and farms want to help provide their products to low-income individuals and families, many are left with little to no guidance on how to become approved as a SNAP retailer. Oftentimes, misconceptions on difficulty of the application, reporting requirements, and more become a barrier to getting market managers and farm owners to apply. 

This initiative is a comprehensive, multi-level, multicomponent social marketing intervention primarily funded through SNAP-Ed intending to decrease those barriers and increase the number of SNAP-accepting farmers markets and SNAP redemptions at each. Consequently, ONIE intends to increase the number of daily servings of fruits and vegetables among SNAP participants.

ONIE supports farmers markets and direct-marketing farmers by providing technical assistance for the USDA – FNS application process to accept EBT as well as collaborating on capacity-building and marketing support for EBT accepting markets.

PROVIDING FRESH ACCESS TO THE COMMUNITY

Farmers markets, farm hubs, and farm stands all play an important role in providing fresh food access in their communities. These are all considered types of local food access points, but are collectively referred to as markets. The number of markets that accept SNAP/EBT as a form of payment has steadily increased in the state of Oklahoma in recent years, with an effort from the ONIE Project to further expand into underserved communities. 

ONIE supports SNAP-accepting markets through three primary avenues:

Capacity Building

We provide markets with custom EBT/SNAP promotional materials and point-of-sale signage, including, but not limited to:

• Canopy tents
• Shopper wagons
• Handicap parking signs
• Tablecloths
• T-shirts
• Aprons
• Token pouches
• Market tokens

We also provide custom-made recipe cards featuring popular Oklahoma grown produce with guidance on how to select, store, and prepare the item and conduct informational sessions on the benefits of accepting SNAP at a market during the annual Oklahoma Local Agriculture Summit (OKLAS).

Ongoing Marketing

• “Produce Spotlight” blog posts on the featuring in-season produce commonly found at Oklahoma farmers markets with information on how to use redeem SNAP benefits at a market.
• A feature in the ONIE annual nutrition calendar SNAP-accepting farmers market map page.
• Special mentions of SNAP-accepting markets in ONIE’s “Tasty Text” free SMS program during peak season.
• Customized and professionally produced promotional commercial videos with an emphasis on the benefits of using SNAP at the market for the market’s use in their own social media marketing
• Ongoing social marketing promotion consists of continuous paid ads posted across all farmers markets’ social media pages throughout their respective operating months

The Harvest Highlight Project

This project is a collaboration between ONIE and OSU Cooperative Extension and consists of an ad-boosted live-streamed video series featuring walk-through tours of the market by an OSU Extension nutrition educator and cooking demos utilizing market produce. Participating markets also receive ONIE nutrition education materials, SNAP token guides, market tote bags, and more to help promote the use of SNAP at their market.

CURRENT EFFORTS & SUCCESS

In Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) ONIE:

• Provided 48 markets with technical assistance in applying or operating SNAP at their market.
• Assisted in the application process for eight new markets and one new direct-marketing farm.
• Developed three new local produce recipe cards.
• Reached an estimated 33k through social media advertising.
• Observed a 6.8% increase in SNAP transactions across all SNAP accepting farmers market and direct-marketing farms.
• Observed a 19% increase in SNAP dollars redeemed from FY21 to FY22 with a total of $393,335 SNAP dollars redeemed at farmers markets and direct-marketing farms.

PARTNERS

ONIE would like to acknowledge the value of our partnerships with OSU Cooperative Extension and their efforts on The Harvest Highlight project as well as Oklahoma Human Services and their assistance in sales data collection.