Published: 1/18/2021 8:19:27 PM
NORTHAMPTON — Local food like vegetables, honey, eggs and meat will be available at a monthly winter farmers market at the Senior Center starting Saturday.
Grow Food Northampton took over running the winter farmers market this year because the usual organizers weren’t able to run it during the pandemic, said Niki Lankowski, Grow Food Northampton market manager and communications manger.
“We thought it would be important to have at least one local market per month,” Lankowski said.
A major part of that, Lankowski said, is providing a place for people to use Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) benefits — which gives those who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits additional money to buy products directly from farmers.
“That’s the main reason we wanted to do this,” Lankowski said.
In the winter, “there’s no other outlet — no other farm stand, no other direct purchasing option for customers that have that,” she said of Northampton, noting that people would need to travel to Easthampton or Holyoke to use HIP money.
At the market, Lankowski said Grow Food Northampton will double SNAP benefits up to $10 as an extra incentive.
“We’ll also double the P-EBT (Pandemic EBT) benefits,” she said.
Vendors at the market include Red Barn Honey Company, Bread Euphoria, Barberic Farm and Red Fire Farm. There will be COVID safety precautions, such as mandatory masks, limited capacity, and one-way traffic flow through the space, according to information from Grow Food Northampton.
Markets at the Senior Center are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on January 23, February 13 and March 13.
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.