May 20, 2015
Page 9
H ealth
Eat Healthy with Local Produce
‘Double Up Food Bucks’ serve low-income
The Farmers Market Fund, an
independent non-profit and com-
panion organization to the Portland
Farmers Market, has always been
dedicated to providing increased
access to healthy local grown food
for low-income, elderly and under-
served populations.
But now even more can be
Buying fresh local produce is a way to eat healthy. Now a new pro-
gram gives cash incentives to low-income Oregonians who receive
food stamps to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables at farmers
markets.
A genetically engineered potato poking through the soil of a
planting pot inside J.R. Simplot’s lab in southwestern Idaho.
USDA Tackles GMO Labeling
(AP) - The Agriculture Depart-
ment has developed a new govern-
ment certification and labeling for
foods that are free of genetically
modified ingredients.
USDA’s move comes as some
consumer groups push for man-
datory labeling of the genetically
modified organisms, or GMOs.
The certification is the first of
its kind, would be voluntary - and
companies would have to pay for
it. If approved, the foods would
be able to carry a “USDA Process
Verified” label along with a claim
that they are free of GMOs.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vil-
sack outlined the new certification
in a May 1 letter to USDA em-
ployees.
Companies can already put
their own GMO-free labels on
foods, but there are no govern-
ment labels that only certify a food
as GMO-free. Many companies
use a private label developed by
a nonprofit called the Non-GMO
Project. The USDA organic label
also certifies that foods are free of
genetically modified ingredients,
but many non-GMO foods aren’t
organic.
achieved thanks to a $500,000
award from the Food and Drug
Administration’s Food and Inse-
curity and Nutrition Incentive Pro-
gram and an Oregon food stamps
incentive program called “Double
Up Food Bucks.”
The program will provide cash
incentives to low-income Orego-
nians who receive food stamps for
purchasing locally grown fruits
and vegetables at farmers markets
and through community supported
agriculture.
The food stamps incentive will
apply at 46 farmers markets, in-
cluding the King Farmers Market
in northeast Portland and other
markets in rural and urban com-
munities.
For information, visit farmers-
marketfund.org.