Denise Ward’s weekly routine includes shopping at farmers markets in Carbondale or Scranton. The markets serve as easily accessible places where she can buy fresh produce that she likes to eat, including eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers in the summer. But this summer, vouchers for locally grown fruits and vegetables will be chopped. Ward and other seniors statewide will receive half the assistance.
The Farmers Market Nutrition Program offers eligible seniors vouchers to help buy fresh produce. Instead of seniors being able to receive up to $50 in vouchers, they can receive up to $25 starting in May, according to an announcement from Lackawanna County. The reduction is due to an expiration of federal COVID-19 relief funds used to supplement the program.
“With the price of things going up so drastically, especially the price of food, cutting the farmers market vouchers in half, I think unfortunately, it was a bad year for it to happen,” Ward said.
The 64-year-old from Lackawanna County understands the value that farmers markets have to the communities that they serve.
“I think it's important because it's helping the farmers and you’re also getting fresh produce instead of the stuff that's coming from other countries and that’s been sitting in the supermarket for a week or two,” Ward said. “I enjoy buying the fresh corn and things like that…it has better flavor. It’s more convenient for me to go to the farmers market.”
The responsibility of sending out the vouchers in Lackawanna County falls to the Area Agency on Aging. According to Lauren Chapin, the community outreach administrative officer for the agency, the amounts received from the vouchers have seen some changes over the years.
“It used to be $20 starting in 2020, [then] they went up to $24 and it stayed that way through 2022,” she said. “And then with 2023 and ‘24 is when it went up to $50."
The increase — and eventual decrease — is due to federal funding, said Shannon Powers, the spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture. Federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds had allowed the state to increase voucher amounts during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that funding expires this year. Powers stressed that there was no proposed reduction in state funds.
“The amount proposed for farmers’ market coupons in Governor Shapiro’s budget is $2.579 million, the same as the state funding in the 2024-25 state budget,” she said.
Starting with the vouchers that will roll out in May this year, seniors can receive up to five, $5 vouchers.
People can receive the vouchers if they are 60 years of age or older while also meeting specific federal income guidelines, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
These guidelines include not exceeding a total income of $27,861 for a one-person household, $37,814 for a two-person household and $47,767 for a three-person household. Four-person households cannot exceed an income of $57,720.
The vouchers can only be used to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. They cannot be used to buy processed or baked goods.
This year, the vouchers will begin to become available in May, according to the county. Seniors are encouraged to call their local County Aging office to find specifics about when and where vouchers will be distributed.
The Fallbrook Senior Community Center gave out 410 vouchers last year.
Nancy Brown, the manager of the Fallbrook Senior Community Center who works for United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, views this change as one that affects more than just the seniors who use the vouchers. She spoke about how both the consumers and the farmers who rely on purchases made through the vouchers will see a hit in the way that they see exchanges at the farmers market.
Brown also talked about how many older adults at the center feel about the change.
“The older adults that are here who have spoken to me about it are feeling very stretched with their budgets. They choose carefully right now, especially when on a fixed income…” she said. “Unfortunately that could cut into what they’re spending on fresh produce.”
The Carbondale Farmers Market is open every Thursday at the Fallbrook Senior Community Center, 185 Fallbrook St., from 2 to 5 p.m.