Basics & Criteria

EBT BASICS -- WHAT YOU WILL NEED

1. Approval by your board, committee, etc. Since this is a significant undertaking for any market, make sure your board or advisory committee (if you have one) understands the program and agrees it is a good idea for your market. As a group you will want to decide if you want EBT only or EBT and Debit card combination.

2. Approval by NMFMA so we can guarantee we have the resources to provide you with what you need (a machine, tokens, supplies, etc).

3. FNS Approval: You need to be approved for an EBT machine by FNS (USDA's Food & Nutrition Service). As the food stamp program is a federal program, approval requirements are strict. The greatest hurdle may be finding someone willing to submit his or her social security number to FNS. If the person is married, their spouse must also submit their social security number. We are available to walk you through the online application.


CRITERIA--SHOULD YOUR MARKET CONSIDER EBT NOW?

The following are general guidelines we have developed to help you determine if you are a good candidate for taking on EBT. We also use it to determine which markets to fund.

1. Sufficient Supply and Demand: Number of food stamp recipients in a county and adequate selection of fresh produce. While there is great need across the state for low-income people to have access to locally grown, fresh food, if your community does not have a sizeable food stamp population and/or if your market size does not allow for a sufficient quantity or variety of product, the time may not be right for your market to implement EBT.

• What constitutes "enough" food stamp recipients? There is no absolutely right number, but every community in New Mexico does have some need. . No market should rule itself out based on this factor alone. It is just one factor to be considered.

• What is "sufficient quantity or variety" of produce? As a general rule of thumb, a market should, at peak season, have at least 10 produce vendors EACH of whom have at least 8 varieties of produce. Again, consider this a general guideline.

Why use guidelines? Limited resources is the primary answer. Also, it is important to try give this program as much chance for success as possible. The number of people served is only one measure of success, and it is certainly not the only thing we want to take into consideration. Sometimes it will depend on which other area markets have EBT, how involved a community might get, who the community partners might be, what the prospects for long-term sustainability of the program might be, etc.

2. A dedicated EBT staff. Staffing is a critical component to this program. The NMFMA highly recommends that the person who runs the EBT program not also be a vendor at the market because vendors are very busy at market. The market's EBT person should be able to be accessed by market shoppers at any time, and ideally in a clearly marked, centralized location.

What is the EBT staff person responsible for?

• Filing the application with FNS
• The EBT machine once it is delivered
• The tokens that are taken to market and used as "bank"
• Handling EBT transactions at market
• Helping the market manager inform growers how to work with the token system
• Reimbursing growers for tokens
• Entering transaction records into an excel sheet or other accounting program after market
• Reconciliation of bank statement with EBT

Don't forget: It is critical that the person responsible for EBT is willing to submit their social security number to FNS. If he/she is married, their spouse must also submit his/her social security number.

3. Desire to make this happen. We all know market managers already have plenty to do, so taking on a new program like this, even if it is just in a management role, is not an easy task. Really think about whether you have the time and energy to make this happen in your community.