This experimental program is paying participants to buy produce. Here’s how it’s going.

According to the CDHS’ current SNAP Produce Bonus map, there are only two vendors in the Denver area currently participating in the pilot program. McClelland said that most are located in lower-income communities with less access to food, and generally include smaller corner stores as opposed to big box grocery chains.

One of those two vendors is Ela Family Farms, a nearly 120-year-old multigenerational family farm based in Hotchkiss, Colorado that sells produce at the South Pearl Street Farmers Market in Denver’s Platte Park neighborhood. The farm primarily grows tree fruits, such as apples, peaches and plums. 

Regan Choi from Ela Family Farms said the farm agreed to participate at the suggestion of workers with Colorado State University.

Choi said that Ela Family Farms has worked on food accessibility initiatives with various CSU extension programs for years, and “it was natural for [the farm] to be in the conversation” when the SNAP Produce Bonus program began.

“Initially, it was sort of a do-or-die feeling about joining as the program rolled out, because the Fort Collins Farmers Market was not going to have a central location anymore. The only option was to get the machine ourselves,” said Choi.

She agreed that the technology has the potential to be very helpful, and that it may help put people on an equal footing in terms of being able to hand over a card versus paper vouchers.

However, Choi said the physical technology comes with a learning curve — just another thing to learn for workers already busy with stocking and selling produce at a busy market. 

The new EBT reader is called “the brick,” in reference to its look and feel. The brick requires a paid subscription as well as internet connectivity to operate, meaning vendors must decide how many machines they can afford, where they place them (if they are selling at multiple markets on the same day, like Ela Family Farms does) and how they will train workers to operate machines when necessary.

“Anything we can do to take away feelings of stigmatization, so folks can just fulfill a basic need to eat… that’s very important,” said Choi. “But however much we want to help with food inequity, we need to consider how much ranchers can afford and handle themselves too.”