ALEI legal specialist Megan Todd, with project partner Nancy Nunn (Assistant Director, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology), coordinated educational Train-the-Trainer workshops in March and December, 2024 for local agricultural marketing & economic development professionals, and all service providers who want to learn about increasing farmer participation as access points for benefits shoppers. The project includes ongoing efforts to plan regional events for farmers to become authorized SNAP, WIC, FMNP vendors. The vendor applications for supplemental nutrition benefit programs can feel like a confusing or overwhelming feat to individual farmers, but successful guidance can provide farm businesses with a new customer base while increasing community access to fresh, local fruits and vegetables.
The project training team has been working with project participants to coordinate a handful of local sign-up events for farm vendors. Date and locations below:
- January 14, 2025 – Baltimore County Farm Fair, Ag Center, 1114 Shawan Rd. Cockeysville, MD 21030
- January 27, 2025 – Southern Maryland (Calvert, St. Mary’s, Charles Counties) – Calvert County Harriet Brown Community Center, 901 Dares Beach Rd, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
- February 3, 2025 – Garrett County, 1025 Memorial Drive, Oakland, MD 21550.
- February 6, 2025 – Upper Shore (Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Harford Counties) 200 Chesapeake Blvd #2700, Elkton, MD 21921
- February 2025 (TBD), Dorchester County, The Philips Packing House, 411 Dorchester Ave, Cambridge, MD 21613
For more information on how to register for any of the events above, contact Megan Todd (motodd@law.umaryland.edu) or Nancy Nunn (nnunn@umd.edu).
This work is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number ENE23-180-AWDOOOO1024.
