MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A popular food program that offers free fruits and vegetables to children will return with expanded service for summer 2023.
The West Virginia University Extension Family Nutrition Program will operate the Kids Market @ The Store program in 26 counties in West Virginia after serving 16 counties in 2022. The program is supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and will serve 3,200 families this summer.
“It’s a program where families sign up, and then they receive $30 worth of wooden tokens in the mail, and they can spend those tokens at participating retailers in their county,” said WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program Multimedia Specialist Zack Harold.
Any family that fills out the survey to sign up for the program will receive SNAP-supported wooden tokens that can be used at any participating retailer in the county they live in. Each family will receive $30 in tokens that kids from ages 2 to 17 can use to “shop” for fruits and vegetables that would be found in a designated Kids Market @ The Store display. Harold says the display will have a constant supply of various fruits and vegetables that will be restocked with the help of local farmers.
“Fruits and vegetables that are grown by local West Virginia farmers come once a week, and they stock these special carts, and that’s where the kids will do their shopping,” said Harold.
At checkout, store clerks will also give children who participate a sticker that will vary depending on which produce they purchase. Families who keep track of the collected stickers through the Kids Market @ The Store passport sent as part of their tokens can then mail them back to the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program for WVU-themed prizes. The aim is to offer incentives for kids to try different fruits and vegetables throughout the summer.
“This takes away that barrier; it lets kids do the shopping for themselves, and it also gives it to them for free so they can try things that they might not otherwise try,” said Harold.
The Kids Market @ Store program will operate in Monongalia County as well as Barbour, Cabell, Clay Doddridge, Fayette, Grant, Hardy, Harrison, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Ritchie, Tyler, Uphsur, and Wood counties. With the help of grants from Save the Children and the Sisters Health Foundation, Harold also stated that $138,000 will be paid to local farmers who will provide produce throughout the summer. Produce that will be paid for with SNAP-supported funds so families can have healthy food options while kids are out of school.
“We’re giving families free fruits and vegetables; we’re using funding that we get from other grants; we have community partners; and we use that grant money to pay the farmers,” said Harold.
Families can sign up by completing a short survey at https://wvu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7ZDsUFsohDDRcJ8.
WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program’s work is supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.