Fans of the San Juan Island Farmers Market can look forward to a reinvigorated market this year. They’ll see more farmers, and they’ll see the market again stocked to the brim with the islands’ bounty.
With the expansion of the market’s Fresh Bucks program, this local food will be accessible to even more islanders.
Farmers market board members and market manager Samantha DeChristopher embarked on a two-pronged endeavor to attract both more farmers and a wider range of customers to the market. The aim is to increase the purchasing power of islanders who ordinarily find locally grown products beyond their means.
The farmers market launched Fresh Bucks in 2024. Residents making up to 200% of the federal poverty qualify for the locally funded project.
Enrollees receive $40 in the form of Fresh Bucks currency every market day throughout the summer for purchasing farm goods, from vegetables and fruits, to meat and honey, to seafood and dairy. Combining SNAP or WIC benefits with Fresh Bucks increases purchasing power, and farmers are fully reimbursed by the market.
To expand the reach of Fresh Bucks this year, the market is kicking off a fundraising campaign this month with the goal of securing $75,000 for Fresh Bucks for the 2025 program to begin, May 24, explained farmers market president Jeff Johnson.
Helping farmers and families
“This program is serving a dual purpose,” said DeChristopher. “Last year we raised $28,000 that went straight to the farmers. Our funding helped farmers make a decent living and allowed island families and seniors who otherwise couldn’t afford it to go home with the widest range of food possible in food assistance programs.”
The Fresh Bucks trial run was an unqualified success, especially among island seniors. This is a story of mutual benefit. It opens the market and its island-grown food to more islanders regardless of income level. Growers and producers likewise benefit from a more reliable income stream over the season.
The market worked in tandem with a local nonprofit, the Nourish to Flourish Coalition, to establish and fund Fresh Bucks.
“We’ve taken a broad perspective. It takes a team and a community to look at food insecurity challenges and how to make different programs dovetail,” DeChristopher said.
Doubling down in Bellingham
The San Juan Island Farmers Market isn’t the only regional market to accept state and federal food assistance programs. However, only a few have programs that increase the purchasing power for card holders. One of them, the Bellingham Farmers Market — long committed to food accessibility through standard EBTs — made a significant change in its market match program in 2024 by upping it to 100%, thereby doubling purchasing power.
As market director Chloe Knox explained, the dollar-for-dollar match allows for the purchase of many more products than permitted through SNAP. This opens the way for families to buy fish, meat and many dairy products. The Bellingham Farmers Market also provides Sun Bucks, a summer EBT card targeted for kids.
This combination of food assistance “currencies” is a huge benefit to the market’s farmers, Knox said, translating into income going directly to them. It contributed to a 25% increase in spending at the market last year.
According to Knox, the Bellingham Farmers Market redeemed $70,000 from EBTs and $70,000 from its SNAP match, a jump from 2023. This translates into a lively and bustling market, to a “wider range” of shoppers, “a more open culture, a more welcoming community,” she said.
San Juan Island shoppers can register for Fresh Bucks at the farmers market booth on Saturday mornings on market days. Applicants may also apply for Fresh Bucks online through the San Juan County Health Department or the Family Resource Center.
Checking the math
The first round of federal funding freezes by the Trump Administration did not affect SNAP and EBT budgets. Proposed funding cuts and a more complicated qualifying process as part of the current Congressional budget negotiations may result in a loss of these benefits for thousands across the U.S.
Johnson said last year’s trial meant that farmers could do more than break even on Saturdays. One farmer, he noted, took home some $7,000 more in sales than usual over the course of three or four months.
For farmers, it’s not just a financial boon. More sales mean less product to pack up and take home, also offsetting the effort it takes to harvest, pack, set up and dismantle on Saturday mornings.
Mama Bird Farm is one of the island’s largest producers and has long been a mainstay at the market. Mara Lawrence, one of the owners, wrote in an email that “Fresh Bucks has been an awesome program for the San Juan Island Farmers market! It has been amazing to see how many more people and non-regulars — a younger demographic — show up and buy produce and meat.
“It takes added effort to get to the Farmers Market. Fresh Bucks helps remind the community to take that time and support local sustainable agriculture rather than buy what is familiar, easy — and maybe more affordable.”
Variety and volume
The Farmers Market at Brickworks in downtown Friday Harbor draws large crowds in the summer. After the pandemic the tourist crowds returned, but the market lost several farmers. With them went some of the variety and volume of local food for sale.
To entice farmers back to the market, the board has made it easier to participate this year by no longer requiring them to be at the market every Saturday. Instead, they can bring their produce to Brickworks on Fridays, since cold storage is now available. Market staff will take over from there, setting up and operating a co-op table.
“We’ve set up a system for tracking sales. It will be easier for farmers to participate. They won’t have to set up tables and tents,” said Johnson, adding that this may allow more farmers to participate without losing a whole day’s work. Last summer, DeChristopher stood in — and sold meat — for Fir Oak Farm and others.
Already, 12 farmers from San Juan and Lopez islands have committed to being at the market throughout the season.
To make it easier on shoppers as well, there is now a fixed year-round schedule: The market is open 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Saturday, April through October, and the same hours November through March on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
Seniors wishing to avoid the morning hubbub during summer may shop between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. when the market officially opens.
All these changes point to a revitalization of this longtime market. It is welcome news to longtime islander, Megan Jones, who in the late 1980s was one of the founders of the market.
“This is fabulous,” she said. “A program like Fresh Bucks is really needed. It’s so important for the community.” Brickworks, she added, “is a beautiful venue for having an inside, year-round market. I seek out fresh food there all winter long.”
Those wishing to make a tax deductible financial contribution to the San Juan Island Farmers Market Fresh Bucks program may do so through the nonprofit Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center, signifying the contribution is for the San Juan Island Farmers Market Fresh Bucks program.
The Salish Current is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, online local news organization serving Whatcom, San Juan and Skagit counties by reporting local news with independence and strict journalistic integrity, and by providing fact-based information and a forum for civil commentary.
