NOFA, Vermont Food Bank and farmers urge state funding to strengthen SNAP access and local food programs

NOFA Vermont, the Vermont Food Bank and farmers urged a legislative committee to support a package of funding and policy steps they say would strengthen food access and keep federal SNAP dollars in local markets.

At a testimony session, Joanna Doran, local food access director with NOFA Vermont, asked lawmakers to support $500,000 in new base funding to sustain two NOFA programs — Crop Cash Plus and Vermont FarmShare — and to pass legislation that would let Vermont opt into the federal SNAP restaurant-meals option. Doran also requested that the Legislature appropriate $75,000 for restaurant start-up costs and $100,000 for a Department for Children and Families staff position to administer the program.

The request also included support for a $5 million base appropriation for the Vermont Food Bank to shore up disaster response and grow a farm-to-institution distribution program, and a separate request to increase base funding for home-delivered meals for older Vermonters (Meals on Wheels) by $2 million, testimony showed.

Why it matters: SNAP — called 3 Squares Vermont in state materials — puts significant federal purchasing power into Vermont each month. Doran said roughly $13 million in SNAP benefits is spent in Vermont every month and that the program directly supports farmers and markets. “In the first half of this fiscal year, at…