Double Up Food Bucks Program
To address the issue of food insecurity in Austin, Sustainable Food Center (SFC) and Wheatsville Food Co-op have partnered to make it easier for people using SNAP benefits to buy fruits and vegetables.
Beginning September 1st, with funding from the City of Austin, Austin area Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) clients will get a 50% discount on fruits and vegetables at both Wheatsville Food Co-op grocery stores (4001 S. Lamar Blvd and 3101 Guadalupe St.) thanks to the Double Up Food Bucks Program from Sustainable Food Center.
This is the first program of its kind in Austin. Austin joins Lubbock and Fort Worth as the only other Texas cities to offer Double Up SNAP incentives in grocery stores.
For SFC, access to adequate amounts of nutritious, culturally appropriate food is a human right. For the last ten years, SFC has provided SNAP and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clients with the opportunity to purchase more fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets with their monthly benefits.
By expanding this program into local grocery stores, SFC hopes that the Double Up Food Bucks Program will reach more Austin residents than ever before.
Mark Bethell, Executive Director of Sustainable Food Center says “Thousands of SNAP clients have used Double Up to purchase fresh, local produce at Austin farmers’ markets. Now, SNAP clients can access their Double Up benefits every day of the week and in two convenient locations. SFC is expanding food access options for Austinites on SNAP and supporting local businesses, who in turn, support local farmers”.
As an Austin-based retailer with a cooperative business model, Wheatsville is committed to ensuring Double Up Food Bucks works well for their customers. Wheatsville’s two locations provide convenient highway and public transportation access to residents living in South, Southeast Austin, and Central Austin near the University of Texas.
“As Austin’s only community-owned grocer, our goal is to make sustainable, healthy food accessible to all. Double-Up Food Bucks furthers that commitment by expanding our reach. We are thrilled to partner with the Sustainable Food Center to better meet the needs of our shared community”, said Bill Bickford, Wheatsville General Manager.
BACKGROUND INFO
• In 2021, an estimated 14.7% of Austin residents experienced food insecurity, according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap. This means that about 1 in 7 people in Austin can’t always access the foods they need to stay fed and healthy.
• Food insecurity increases the risk for chronic diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, among others (source).
• Food insecurity rates among Black and Latinx Austinites are approximately 3x and 2.5x higher, respectively, than for White Austinites (source).
• A study in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease estimated that food insecurity costs the state of Texas more than $3.1 billion in additional healthcare costs (source).
• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the country’s primary food safety net program. SNAP incentives on fruits and vegetables increase purchasing power for SNAP recipients and increase access to nutritious foods for SNAP recipients and their families. (source)
• Nationwide, SNAP incentive programs provide an additional $20 million for SNAP recipients to spend on fruits and vegetables at grocery stores (source).
• Almost 40,000 people in Travis County received SNAP benefits in July 2022, resulting in approximately $11.6 million entering the local economy (source).
To learn more about Wheatsville, visit our website HERE . To learn more about SFC’s Double Up Food Bucks Program in Austin, visit their website HERE or call their bi-lingual English and Spanish Help Desk line at 512-730-1807.