The B.C. Government is investing a further $2-million in funding to expand Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program. This funding will provide lower-income seniors and families in Courtenay with locally grown produce and food products to improve healthy eating habits.
The Comox Valley Farmers’ Market has two locations participating in this program:
Comox Valley Farmers’ Market
Location: England Avenue, between 5th and 6th streets, Courtenay
Hours: Wednesdays, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Cooking & Skill Building Program: Comox Valley Family Services Association
Comox Valley Farmers’ Market
Location: Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds, Headquarters Road, Courtenay
Hours: Saturdays, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
Cooking & Skill Building Program: Comox Valley Family Services Association
The program offers $15 worth of coupons each week to individuals and families enrolled in the nutrition and skills building programs offered by community agencies associated with each participating market. Coupons are treated like cash and can be used to purchase a variety of B.C. food products including fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, dairy and herbs.
The program is expected to support about 1,300 families and 400 seniors in 2013 and will continue to expand.
The coupon program runs from July through October 2013 and is administered by the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets.
To participate in the program, farmer’s markets partner with a community agency that works to provide nutrition, cooking, or healthy lifestyle skills building programs to lower income British Columbians. Participants then gain the skills and knowledge needed to help them eat healthier and make the most of their local farmers’ markets.
The BC Association of Farmers’ Markets is a provincially registered, non-profit association, which represents farmers’ markets throughout the province. At member markets, the focus is on selling locally grown or processed farm-fresh foods and vendors must either make, bake or grow the products they sell.
For more information on the Farmers’ Market Nutrition and Coupon Program, Farmers Appreciation Week, or to locate a farmers’ market in your community, visit: www.bcfarmersmarket.org
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