Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

At 06:19 PM 1/30/2008, you wrote:

> After three seasons as market farmers,
> Goldberg and Campbell started a small CSA last year. It exclusively serves
> low income people, and the members pay with electronic food stamp benefits,
> known as EBT.

As a contract reviewer for the food stamp program, I think this is 
absolutely fantastic. I can't articulate how depressing it is to go 
into store after store in low income neighborhoods and find, at most, 
a few half rotten tomatoes among the potato chips, canned beans, 
ramen noodles and hot dogs.


> The only unexpected issue the couple encountered last
> year was the lag time between filing their application with the USDA,
> getting it approved, and getting set up with their EBT machine. Goldberg
> encourages other farmers to start the process at least two months before
> the beginning of the CSA.

I'll second this, but add that the lag time varies widely with the 
time of year and the work load of the particular field office. And if 
the application happens to get processed faster than the applicant 
expects, the reviewer may show up on your doorstep before you're 
ready to be inspected. So ASK how soon you need to have all your 
paperwork in. In the summer, we do most of the routine renewal 
inspections (food stamp merchants get re-inspected every three to 
five years). The workload in the field offices is very heavy during 
that time, and the waiting period for new applications may stretch 
out to the maximum allowable period. In the late fall, winter and 
early spring, there is much less work being processed. Store owners 
have told me in amazement that it was only two or three days since 
they sent off their application before I showed up to do the inspection.

> She and Campbell had an utterly positive
> experience with their all-EBT modified CSA. "It's so necessary and so
> appreciated" by the shareholders, Goldberg said. "The hardest part was
> figuring out who to call to get the application." We'll save you that step
> - here it is.

I don't see the info about who to contact, and I know only for the 
mid-Atlantic states, but here are the ones I have:

Richmond, VA (covers the central and eastern part of Virginia from 
about Staunton across to the northern neck  804-287-1710
Charleston, WV (I think they handle the whole state of West Virginia. 
They also have the southwest counties of Virginia)  304-347-5944
Towson, MD (northern counties of Virginia (north of Staunton to MD 
state line, east to Fredericksburg, also DC and Maryland)  410-962-2391
Pittsburgh, PA (most of PA, not exactly sure of the extent of their 
coverage) 412-395-6866

I work for the Richmond, Charleston and Towson field offices, so I'm 
most familiar with their territories.

Anyone outside these areas who wants to contact the USDA should look 
for a phone listing for the Food and Nutrition Service. That's the 
department that handles WIC and food stamps. If you end up with 
someone in the agricultural end of it, they may just tell you they 
don't know anything. Also, be prepared to leave a message on voice 
mail and get a call back. Few of the offices have clerical 
personnel--they're all doing food stamp related stuff and they may or 
may not be free to take phone calls at any given time.

If anyone has more specific questions about how to apply, or what the 
general process is, feel free to contact me off list. Don't ask 
questions about what you have to sell in order to qualify (I don't 
know), or what you're allowed to accept food stamps for (I don't 
know, not any more than the general public knows). I have no 
authority to dispense information about food stamp program rules or 
regulations, even if I thought I knew the answers. But I can tell you 
how to get started in the application process, and what--in general 
terms--to expect along the way.

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com