By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A bill signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels last week will make it easier for Indiana’s 700,000 food stamp beneficiaries to buy fresh, locally grown produce at farmers’ markets.

The bill’s author, State Rep. Erich A. Koch (R-Bedford), believes the new legislation is a “win-win” for local food vendors as well as low-income Hoosiers.

“This opens up a whole new customer base for the farmers’ markets, and a whole new shopping experience for Hoosiers who receive benefits. They will now gain access to fresh, healthy produce,” he said.

House Bill 1535 calls for Indiana’s Division of Family Resources (DFR) to provide farmers’ market administrators, or individual vendors, with electronic point-of-sale terminals that are connected to the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system. When the bill is implemented, food stamp beneficiaries will be able to use the EBT card, which replaced paper food stamps in 2002, at select farmers’ markets in the state. The terminals will also be capable of processing regular debit and credit cards.

The legislation calls for the DFR to make available a minimum of 20 card terminals by the end of the year, but Koch said that number is likely to grow.

“That’s a floor, not a ceiling. I have no reason to believe that’s going to be all, if this program is as successful as I think it will be,” he said.

The details of the program – for example how the farmers’ markets or individual vendors will be selected and how they will share in the cost of the equipment and monthly fees – will be hashed out by the DFR. The agency has testified, however, that the program can be implemented within its existing budget.

The federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has to approve the state plan, and participating vendors will have to seek FNS vendor status.

Today, few farmers’ markets or individual vendors can afford the upfront cost of purchasing electronic point-of-sales terminals or the monthly fees, although there are exceptions. At the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, for example, food stamp recipients can swipe their EBT card in a central location in exchange for tokens called “Market Bucks,” which can be used to purchase eligible food items like fruits, vegetables, eggs, honey, meat and dairy products.

And, if the newly passed bill will make the card terminals more affordable, more farmers’ markets will likely want to follow Bloomington’s lead.

“We’d be happy to accept food stamps if it were easier to get into,” said John Feree, a vendor at Indianapolis’ Broad Ripple Farmers’ Market.

Feree, also a member of the market’s advisory committee, said vendors accept Women, Infants and Children (WIC) coupons, but currently have no way of handling the EBT cards. Feree was excited about the possibility of providing low-income families with fresh produce and was hoping the program would allow enough flexibility to include community supported agriculture (CSA) ventures as well as farmers’ markets.

“I’m certainly happy about it (the bill). This is something that we’ve been talking about for some time,” he said.

Koch said he had the idea for the bill, which passed unanimously both in the House and Senate, after learning about a similar program in Iowa. The Iowa program was established in 2005 and has grown from 10 participating vendors the first year to 160 vendors last year. A supporter of locally grown produce, Koch is hoping the program will render similar success in Indiana.

“I think an important part of this will be education and getting the word out to the beneficiaries that they can use the EBT card at the farmers’ markets,” he said.