Four Westford Churches Provide Incentive for Healthy Food Choices at Farmers Market

The following was submitted by Sustainable Westford. To submit your own content, e-mail asylvia@westfordcat.org

Four local churches are joining forces with Sustainable Westford to help local residents choose healthier food options by making it easier to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits at the Westford Farmers Market.

This year marks the first time ever that SNAP dollars have been approved for use at the market. In order to support active use of this benefit, the United Methodist Church of Westford, St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Parish, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and the First Parish Church United have each made substantial donations that will fund “matching” SNAP dollars. The net result of this generosity is that SNAP users can now double their dollars at this local venue, providing a much stronger incentive to make better food choices there versus other grocery stores where there are too many low-nutrition alternatives. Several other Boston-area markets have successfully implemented similar programs.

For more information, visit www.SustainableWestford.org.