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This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Clifton, NJ: On October 18,2024, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced a $2,048,422 award to City Green supporting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) statewide nutrition incentive program, Good Food Bucks.
City Green's statewide Good Food Bucks SNAP Nutrition Incentive program, in operation since 2011, currently offers nutrition incentives through over 50 farmers market and grocery store partners across 20 New Jersey counties, serving an average of 21,000 individuals over the last 12 months. As we build on our 13+ years of successful Good Food Bucks incentive program implementation throughout New Jersey, City Green seeks to increase the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables by SNAP participants by providing nutrition incentives at the point of purchase.
City Green's Good Food Bucks program is New Jersey's first and largest statewide EBT-Doubling nutrition incentive program for fruits and vegetables at farmers markets, grocery stores, and other fresh-food retailers. For every $1 a customer spends with their SNAP/EBT Card at participating locations, they receive a Good Food Bucks coupon or discount for fresh produce purchases. SNAP customers receive DOUBLE the amount of fruits and vegetables! Check out City Green’s list of participating locations to find out which markets offer Good Food Bucks near you!
With this USDA NIFA funding, City Green will continue to deepen the program's reach in New Jersey's food desert communities by adding additional farm and retail partners, improving customer experience and program usage through targeted marketing and enhanced point of sale technologies, and poising nutrition incentives for long-term sustainability in New Jersey through research exploration of an electronic EBT-integration program model. Through these efforts, more New Jerseyans in every county will have increased access to healthy fresh fruits and vegetables resulting in improved health outcomes for individuals and communities, farmers will earn additional income, and New Jersey's food system will be more equitable and resilient.
City Green East Orange Farmers Market partner says, “The Good Food Buck program continues to make a substantial difference in the lives of East Orange residents. Our market is invigorated with seniors and other benefit holders who take advantage of the direct value offered through the program. The Good Food Buck program also incentivizes our state’s farms to make their way into our urban environment. I'm not sure that would be the case if these benefits weren't in place.”
As the program continues to scale throughout New Jersey, the Program is now averaging over $30,000 per month in Good Food Bucks redemptions across all of our partners. In addition to increasing access to fresh produce throughout the state, the Program has also positively impacted the farming community with over 90 farmers within the Good Food Bucks network earning additional income!
“[The State of New Jersey Department of Human Services - Division of Family Development] commends the work of the City Green for their statewide Good Food Bucks program and has been happy to collaborate since its inception. Their proposed 3-year large-scale project will build on an already successful and long-running statewide nutrition incentive program that operates at farmers markets, mobile farm stands, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, and grocery stores in 20 of New Jersey’s 21 counties.” says Alecia Eubanks the Assistant Director of State of New Jersey Department of Human Services - Division of Family Development.
This work is supported by the [Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Grant Program grant no. 2024-70415-43708] from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
The USDA GusNIP grant required a dollar for dollar match. The following private foundations supported this effort with vision and generosity, allowing City Green to draw important federal dollars to support nutrition incentives in New Jersey: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Tepper Foundation, The New Jersey Food Security Initiative, and an anonymous donor through the Vermont Community Foundation. In addition, the following partners have generously supported City Green through in-kind donations: Partners for Health and The Wakefern Food Corporation.
City Green is a 501(c)3 urban farming and gardening organization, based in Clifton, New Jersey working to revitalize urban areas through agriculture and educational programming. It offers practical, technical and financial resources in support of environmental stewardship, equitable access to healthy food, and ecologically sustainable communities. For more information contact Jasmine Moreano, Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy or visit www.citygreenonline.org.
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