For the City-Times

This year Central Rivers Farmshed brings EBT to the farmers’ market through partnerships with United HealthCare and Central City Credit Union. In an effort to fight obesity and increase healthy food access, Farmshed is continuing its EBT at the Farmers’ Market program.

This program allows EBT/FoodShare recipients to swipe their EBT cards at the market and receive wooden tokens that can be spent at participating vendor booths. In Stevens Point, the program will run Saturdays starting June 7, and Double Value Days will be offered on the first Saturday of each month starting in July. This means that Central City Credit Union will match one transaction per customer up to $10 per day until the monthly market allotment runs out in Stevens Point. In Wisconsin Rapids, the EBT program will run Thursdays starting June 5.

EBT at the market is a win-win program: low-income residents eat healthy and small local farmers in need of revenue expand their market base. Although EBT cards can only be swiped once per week at each market when the machine is on site, tokens can be used with participating vendors anytime the market is open. EBT market times are as follows:
Stevens Point: Saturdays — 8 AM-2:30 PM (or until vendors sell out) June – October
Wisconsin Rapids: Thursdays — 9 AM-4 PM (or until vendors sell out) June – October

The non-profit will again be hosting Chef on the Square cooking demonstrations with area chefs at 11 AM on the first Saturday of each month in Stevens Point and on the first Thursday of each month in Wisconsin Rapids. The chefs will showcase how to cook and prepare food from scratch using fresh seasonal produce and they will provide recipes and samples.
Wisconsin Rapids Demo Dates:
7/3 – TBA, 8/7 – Christian’s Bistro & Father Fats, 9/4 – Baker Street Grill, 10/2 – Great Expectations
Stevens Point Demo Dates:
7/5 – Emy J’s, 8/2 – Baker Street Grill, 9/6 – Christian’s Bistro & Father Fats, 10/4 – Bistro 212

Local businesses and organizations will be partnering with Farmshed to provide additional educational programming at the markets, including tours of the Stevens Point Farmers’ Market which will be offered on the first Saturday of each month July – Oct in partnership with UW-Extension. Farmshed’s Farm to School Program will be offering children’s activities on the second Saturday of each month in Stevens Point in collaboration with the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum.

Farmshed is also proud to announce Music at the Market in partnership with the Arts Alliance of Portage County. Local musicians will provide entertainment at the Stevens Point Farmers’ Market on the third Saturday of each month.
Music at the Market Dates:
June 21 – William Weinmann – Fiddler
July 19 – Carmen Lee and the Tomorrow River Two – Midwestern Country/Rockabilly
August 16 – Chaz n’ Gerry – Cool Grooves
September 20 – Jeff Erickson Trio – Jazz
October 18 – Rachel Hanson – Alternative-County Singer, Songwriter

To learn more, visit www.farmshed.org or contact Krista Engelhardt – [email protected], 715-544-6154