Farm Fresh Rewards – SNAP/EBT shoppers receive a 50% point-of-purchase discount
on eligible fruits, vegetables, legumes, and seedlings.

Getting started is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

  • SELECT local and non-local eligible produce to purchase
  • COMMUNICATE to the cashier that you will be using your SNAP/EBT card
  • Instantly RECEIVE 50% off eligible produce items at checkout

How does this program work?

If paying with SNAP/EBT at any of the participating stores, customers receive a 50% discount on fruits, veggies, legumes, and seedlings.

Who is eligible for this program?

Any customer paying with SNAP/EBT (formerly called food stamps, or in Maine the “Food Supplement program” or the Pine Tree Card).

What can you receive rewards on?

Any local or non-local fruit, vegetable, legume, or seedling. This includes fresh, frozen, and dried products with no added sugars, salts, or fats. Local, food-producing seeds and plants count too!

Are these programs only available in the summertime?

This program is available all year! More and more farmers are growing food through the winter. Some of the stores do change hours in the winter.

Can I receive rewards at farmers’ markets?

No. Maine Harvest Bucks is the sister nutrition incentive program, but Farm Fresh Rewards rewards are not earned at Maine Harvest Bucks sites and vice versa. However, anyone using SNAP benefits is encouraged to participate in both programs.

How is this program funded?

Funding for this program comes from a federal grant, and much of it also comes from individual donors, communities, and other foundations. If anyone has questions or wants to support this program, please send them to Good Shepherd Food Bank’s Nutrition and Education team. 

Program Contact:
Meg Brown and Courtney Kennedy
FarmFreshRewards@GSFB.org

What are nutrition incentives?

Nutrition incentive programs make healthy food more accessible by providing financial incentives to low-income shoppers participating in federal nutrition assistance programs. With Farm Fresh Rewards, shoppers who buy local food with SNAP/EBT (formerly called food stamps) earn bonus dollars to buy more locally-grown fruit and vegetables.

Farm Fresh Rewards benefits everyone:

  • SNAP shoppers can buy more locally-produced food
  • Maine farmers and food businesses gain new customers
  • More food dollars stay in the local economy

How did this program start?

Maine Farmland Trust and other partners have a history of implementing similar nutrition incentive programs at farmers’ markets.

In 2015, they received a major federal grant to expand nutrition incentives to stores selling local food, like co-ops and small grocers. These local retailers provide an important access point for more Maine farmers and shoppers to benefit from nutrition incentives. When more Mainers can buy more local food, everyone wins: families can make healthier choices, farmers and local food outlets gain new customers, and local economies thrive.

To learn more about Maine Harvest Bucks at farmers’ markets, farm stands, and CSAs, visit MaineHarvestBucks.org.

Expanding nutrition incentives around the state to farmers’ markets, farm stands, stores, and other locations is the current priority of the Maine Local Foods Access Network.

Maine Farmland Trust is a partner in the New England Nutrition Incentive Collaborative, a project supported by the USDA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program and led by Farm Fresh Rhode Island.

This program began under Maine Farmland Trust and is now a program of Good Shepherd Food Bank. It is supported by Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) and previously funded by USDA FINI through Farm Fresh Rhode Island.

For more information, please visit their dedicated webpage HERE!