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ALG Market Open for August 7


Athens Locally Grown

How to contact us:
Our Website: athens.locallygrown.net
On Twitter: @athlocallygrown
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenslocallygrown
On Thursdays: Here’s a map.

Market News

It’s the time of year where we welcome back everyone who left town for the summer, and give a big hello to all the new Athenians living here for the first time. IT’s been pretty quiet summer, but things around town are already picking up. With all the hustle and bustle of back-to-school and new routines, it’s easy to forget things like picking up your ALG order. Remember that we can’t keep your items past 8pm, and we’ll try contacting you any way we know how to make sure you get what you ordered. Now’s a great time to check the phone number on your account to make sure it’s a number I can reach you at at 7:30 on a Thursday. I start calling everyone who hasn’t picked up yet then, and will keep trying to reach you until 8pm, when we have to pack it all up. I hate seeing people’s food go somewhere else, and having a good phone number on your account is the best way to keep that from happening.

I received a surprise letter from the USDA this past week regarding our participation in the SNAP (food stamp) program. As part of the new Farm Bill, Congress cut all funding for the infrastructure behind accepting the electronic SNAP cards. This means that all retailers must now pay for the all of the equipment (the swiper), the receipt paper, the processing fees, and everything else goes into accepting SNAP benefits. This is all separate from the equipment used to accept credit and debit cards, and the minimum monthly cost to ALG will be $70. I fought the system for years to get ALG into the SNAP program, but there’s no way the market can afford to pay that going forward.

So, unless I can figure out a way to pay for the equipment and processing fees, ALG will stop accepting SNAP cards at the end of August.

I know some of you rely on your SNAP benefits to get fresh food from local farmers. You can continue to use them at the Athens Farmers Market while they’re open for the season, and with their grant money from Wholesome Wave, they can even double your SNAP dollars. The Farm Bill exempted farmers markets from the new fees, but they also defined “farmers market” in a way that excludes markets like ours. I wish they’d found other ways to save money, but it is what it is.

Thanks so much for your support of Athens Locally Grown, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. You all are part of what makes Athens such a great area in which to live. We’ll see you on Thursday at Ben’s Bikes at the corner of Pope and Broad Streets from 4:30 to 8pm!

Other Area Farmers Markets

The Athens Farmers Market is open on Saturdays at Bishop Park and Wednesday afternoons downtown at Creature Comforts. You can catch the news on their website. The West Broad Farmers Market is open throughout the week here in Athens, and you can find more information about them here: www.athenslandtrust.org. The Washington-Wilkes Farmer’s Market in Washington is open every Saturday 9-12 behind the Washington Courthouse. The Oconee County farmers market is open Saturday mornings in front of the Oconee County Courthouse. The other area markets I haven’t mentioned have yet to open for the season, so far as I know.

All of these other markets are separate from ALG (including the Athens Farmers Market) but many growers sell at multiple markets. Please support your local farmers and food producers, where ever you’re able to do so!

We thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!