Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are now accepted at the Saranac Lake Farmers’ Park-It, a curbside, order-ahead pickup model, through May 28. SNAP, formerly known as “food stamps”, is a federal program that provides low-income families with funds to purchase groceries. Since most vendors aren’t equipped to individually process EBT cards, a market-wide exchange program is required. This is the first year SNAP has been available through the winter and to pay for online-orders through Park-it.

Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Essex County, and AdkAction piloted this new local food access program at the Lake Placid and Saranac Lake farmers’ markets this year from May to October. Shoppers exchanged their SNAP benefits for tokens redeemable at the market. At those two markets, over $1,700 SNAP dollars were spent on local food during the summer season.

This fall, CCE and AdkAction worked together again at the Saranac Lake Indoor Farmers’ Market to provide the same program, and will continue as the market transitions to just a Park-It after the holidays. Prior to this program, SNAP benefits have not been accepted year-round at any farmers’ market in Essex County.

How to Use SNAP at the Park-It

To redeem SNAP benefits at the Park-it, customers place their orders online by Thursday evening, and visit the CCE volunteer running SNAP exchange when they go to pick-up on Saturday. From there, the customer’s EBT card is charged for the amount of their purchases. If customers wish to purchase food, without ordering ahead, and there are vendors able to accommodate that, they will receive $1 tokens for the amount they charge their EBT card. These tokens can be redeemed on all SNAP-eligible foods. Any unused tokens can be used throughout the duration of both the summer and winter Saranac Lake markets and do not expire.

Customers can also take advantage of Double Up Food Bucks, a matching program that doubles all SNAP transactions up to $20 for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. When customers exchange $20 on their EBT card, they are automatically provided with an additional $20 of Double Up Food Bucks tokens to be used on fresh fruits and vegetables, bringing the total monetary acquisition to $40 market credit for the cost of $20 of EBT credit.

“I love how far I am able to stretch my EBT dollars at the market,” remarked one SNAP customer and winter market attendee. “I am able to essentially double my money while both supporting local farmers and doing a large part of my weekly grocery shopping. The little bit of extra time that it takes to do the EBT to token transaction is well worth the value the folks at Adirondack Harvest, AdkAction, and the Ausable Valley Grange Farmers’ Market provide.”

Park-it runs weekly on Saturdays from 10am to12pm through May 28, 2022. Orders can be picked up behind the Hotel Saranac on Academy Street. Check out the instructions below to learn how to order online and pay with SNAP for each of the eligible market vendors.

To Order Online:

• Asgaard Farm- Go to www.asgaardfarm.com, select “Order Now” and, when prompted in a pop-up window, select the “Saranac Lake Farmers’ Park-it” location. Use the product list to choose your order, then email that order to info@asgaardfarm.com with your name and “SNAP EBT/Pay in Person” listed as your payment option. EBT dollars can be exchanged for SNAP tokens at the indoor market at the time of pickup to pay for your order.

• Brandy Brook Maple Farm or Sugarhouse Creamery- Go to the Ausable Valley Grange farmers’ market website and follow the instructions on the “Farmers Park-It order form” and place your order. SNAP users can pay using SNAP tokens exchanged at the market at the time of pickup.

• Harmony Hills Farmstead- Go to www.harmonyhillsfarmstead.com and select “Shop Online” from the homepage. Add the products that you wish to purchase to your shopping cart. Once an item is added, you will be prompted to select a fulfillment type. Select “Pickup Options” and make sure the description under “review pickup option” is Harvest Market with pickup outside the Hotel Saranac. Select the pickup date corresponding to the market date you wish to attend, then click “add to cart”. After the first item, you will not need to fill out the pickup information for every item. Once you finish shopping, click the cart icon in the top right corner to proceed to checkout. Check out either as a guest or with an account. Enter your contact information when prompted, then, under “Billing Info” select “Cash/Check” as your payment option. Proceed with the following information to place your order. EBT dollars can be exchanged for SNAP tokens at the indoor market at the time of pickup to pay for your order.

• Juniper Hill Farm- First, exchange your EBT dollars for tokens at the indoor market, then proceed outside to the Juniper Hill Farm table set up behind the Hotel Saranac. The folks at Juniper Hill bring extra produce with them each week to sell in person to customers using SNAP, so ordering ahead online is not necessary.

• Mace Chasm Farm- Go to http://www.macechasmfarm.com/ and select “Order here for winter markets” from the top left of the homepage, then select “Order from us here” from the banner. Add the products that you wish to purchase to your shopping cart. Once an item is added, you will be prompted to select a pickup location and date. Select “Saranac Lake Farmers Park-It” as the location and the date corresponding to the market you wish to attend, then click “add to cart”. After the first item, you will not need to fill out the pickup information for every item. Once you finish shopping, click the cart icon in the top right corner to proceed to checkout. Check out either as a guest or with an account. Enter your contact information when prompted, then, under “Billing Info” select “Cash/Check” as your payment option. Proceed with the following information to place your order. EBT dollars can be exchanged for SNAP tokens at the indoor market at the time of pickup to pay for your order.

• Triple Green Jade Farm- Go to www.triplegreenjadefarm.com, select “Order Online” on the main homepage, and place your order. Under payment options, select “Pay in Person/SNAP EBT”, then use SNAP tokens exchanged at the indoor market at the time of pickup to pay for your order.

• Wild Work Farm- Go to https://www.wildworkfarm.com/ and select “Online Farmers’ Market” from the top of the homepage. Add the products that you wish to purchase to your shopping cart. Once an item is added, you will be prompted to select a fulfillment type. Select the pickup date and location corresponding to the market you wish to attend, then click “add to cart”. Once you finish shopping, click the cart icon in the top right corner to proceed to checkout. Check out either as a guest or with an account. Enter your contact information when prompted, then, under “Billing Info” select “Cash/Check” as your payment option. Click the “Note to Seller” icon on the right side of the page and leave a note saying that you plan to pay with SNAP at the Saranac Lake Park-It location. Proceed with the following information to place your order. EBT dollars can be exchanged for SNAP tokens at the indoor market at the time of pickup to pay for your order.

To find other locations to use SNAP, P-EBT, e-WIC, Double Up Food Bucks, and Fair Food Pricing, visit adirondackharvest.com/browse.

Photo: SNAP Outreach & Free Kids Activities at 2021 Saranac Lake Summer Farmer’s Market, provided by Adirondack Harvest