CalFresh_EBT Toolkit FINAL
- 1. Why? ...Should you sign up? Helps your farm and the local food system: • Expands your customer base: 35,000 Sonoma County residents receive CalFresh and spend $5.4 million in benefits every month1 • Increases the buy-in of current customers • Provides recognition and free outreach from Sonoma County Health and Human Services • WHY NOW? Makes use of a grant that pays for wireless Point of Sale (POS) devices to direct market farmers ($1000 value) Benefits low-income consumers: • Improves access to fresh, local, nutritious produce • Provides an opportunity to enhance nutrition education and food literacy • Makes a direct connection to YOU, their farmer How to get started? • Contact CA Department of Social Services EBT Specialist Dianne Padilla-Bates before you start the process. She will answer questions, provide assistance and let you know when you’ve been approved. • Gather your documentation (see below). • Go to this link to start the application. www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailers-0 • Allow yourself 1-2 hours to complete the application. Documentation you’ll need: • SS Cards & Photo IDs of all owners, partners, shareholders and spouses if community property • Business License • EIN Number • Prior year’s retail sales What will FNS do with this information? FNS will verify your information with the IRS; however, all of the information you provide to be certified is for that purpose only. They cannot share this information with any other department of the government. Clarification of application questions: (ask Dianne with questions) Some of the terminology on the application is intended for retail stores and may be confusing for direct market farms: • Type of business entity • Type of retail outlet: CSA & Farm Stands fit under (Farm Stand/Stall/U-Pick) • Hours: Must indicate hours of operation even if it’s only one afternoon a week Dianne Padilla-Bates Farmers’ Market Specialist CA Dept of Social Services Ph: 916-654-1396 / Fx: 916-657-2207 dianne.padilla-bates@dss.ca.gov Toolkit created for Sonoma County, but applicable through out California. Who? ...Would this work for your farm? Your farm customers receive their food in face-to-face encounters: • The EBT card must be physically swiped by an authorized staff member or volunteer. • It may, however, be swiped for two subsequent CSA boxes up to 14 days in advance2. ! You expect to have a minimum of $100 in EBT sales per month during your harvest season. • Minimum requirement is waived the first year. • If you sell at a farmers’ market that accepts EBT, those sales cannot be counted toward the monthly sales requirement since you must participate with the market’s EBT system. CalFresh/EBT Toolkit for CSA Farmers and Farm Stands A Leadership Institute for the Ecology and the Economy Project in collaboration with FOODIES PROJECT ! www.foodiesproject.com
- 2. 1 County of Sonoma Human Services Department, Press Release, 1/17/14 2 SNAP Provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014, P.L. 113-79 via Dianne Padilla-Bates What’s Next? ...After completing online application it may take 45 days until you’re up and running. • Once approved, you’ll receive an email in a few days with a form to complete for your wireless POS device. After you send in the form, it will be another 10 days until you receive your device. • You will receive your wireless device along with phone contact from FIS (the device provider) and they’ll schedule a 30 minute telephone training for you. Spread the word:! • Sonoma County Human Services Dept. will alert CalFresh recipients that your farm accepts EBT. Contact Greg Baker 707-565-2092 • Foodies Project will promote you on their webpage and in their outreach to CalFresh recipients as well as provide answers and help with the process. Contact Angela Wooton 707-704-1853 www.foodiesproject.com/foodie-farmers. • CA Dept. of Social Services will provide free EBT/ CalFresh posters for use at Farm. Contact Dianne Padilla-Bates (see front page) • Ecology Center helps Farmers’ Markets and hopes to include CSAs in the future ecologycenter.org. • Don’t forget your farm supporters: include in CSA Newsletter, farm communications, social media. Collaborate with a CBO (Community Based Organization): Consider partnering with a CBO to assist you with: • Administering pick-up • Collecting payment via POS device; and/or • Managing incentive program & donated funds Examples of CBOs to work with: • Non-Profits Petaluma Bounty - Suzi Grady 707-775-3663 www.petalumabounty.org Foodies Project www.foodiesproject.com • Faith-Based Organizations Interfaith Sustainable Food Collaboration www.interfaithfood.org • Community Clinics/Health Centers Toolkit created for Sonoma County, but applicable through out California. Field Study: Laguna Farm - CSA & Farm Store • Laguna Farm is a 400 member CSA & Farm Store. • CalFresh members pay for their boxes at every pick-up and must pick-up at the Farm Store. • The EBT card is swiped at pick-up; first CSA box is free and then each weekly payment covers the subsequent week's box. • A $5 incentive is offered for $20 in EBT purchases. • After the Laguna Farm became EBT certified in 2013, some paying members switched to EBT; some prior members rejoined the CSA. Consider an Incentive Program: • CalFresh users report the cost of locally grown food as a barrier for participation and farms report higher attrition rates for CalFresh users. Incentive Programs have been found to lower this barrier. • Collaborating with a CBO such as Foodies Project or Petaluma Bounty help farms by managing donated funds. (See Field Studies below.) Field Study: Singing Frogs Farm - CSA only • Singing Frogs Farm is a Year-Round Single-Farm CSA with 140 members. • CalFresh members are billed every two weeks and must pick-up at the farm; the rest of CSA members are billed quarterly or annually. • A 20% Incentive Program is offered CalFresh members, i.e. they pay $20 with their EBT card and receive a $26 box. • The Incentive Program is funded by donations from other members: when they cancel a box, the value of their box is donated to this fund. CalFresh/EBT Toolkit for CSA Farmers and Farm Stands A Leadership Institute for the Ecology and the Economy Project in collaboration with FOODIES PROJECT ! www.foodiesproject.com