Farmers market aids seniors

Charles Oliver

September 30, 2008 08:24 pm

— Food prices may be climbing, like many other things. But on Tuesday, some seniors got $20 each worth of fresh fruits and vegetables.
“With the costs of groceries what they are today, anything I can get free I appreciate,” said Dalton’s Ruth Long. “I’m getting tomatoes and turnip greens, some sweet potatoes, okra.”
The Coosa Valley Regional Development Center/Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Georgia, with assistance from the Whitfield County Cooperative Extension and the North Georgia Fairgrounds, sponsored a senior farmers market at the fairgrounds. Residents 60 and older who met certain income requirements were given $20 in vouchers they could redeem for produce. Some 200 seniors got vouchers.
“They get five $4 vouchers to buy fresh produce, and they get some nutritional information from the county extension agent, some ideas for canning and freezing produce,” said Debbie Studdard, director of the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Georgia.
“This is a program that is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said Sudha Reddy, chief nutritionist for the Georgia Department of Human Resources’ Division of Aging Services. She said the federal government has funded the program for a decade, but this is only the second year Georgia has participated.
Reddy said the program aims to help seniors but it also boosts area farmers, from whom the produce is bought.
Ringgold’s David Brown was one of the farmers selling goods at the fairgrounds Tuesday.
“We’ve done five or six (senior markets) this year,” he said. “It really helps us.”
Brown said he had “a little bit of everything,” including tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, okra and green beans.
Dalton’s Virginia Jamison said it was important to her that that the farmers were from Georgia.
“It’s wonderful that they are from the local area,” she said.

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