LA GRANDE — Liz Blake, the produce director at Market Place Fresh Foods, knows how to ensure her three children make good food choices — keep the fridge stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables.

For Oregonians who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, affording fresh produce can be a challenge. But with the help of Oregon Food Bank’s Double Up Food Bucks program, La Grande’s Market Place Fresh Foods is helping residents have access to fresh, local produce year-round.

“It just comes down to us wanting to make sure our community is fed,” Blake said.

One in six Oregonians — more than 680,000 residents — receive benefits from the federally funded SNAP program. Blake estimated that approximately 25% of Market Place’s customer base are SNAP recipients, using their Oregon Trail EBT cards to help prevent food insecurity.

Market Place partnered with Oregon’s Double Up Food Bucks program in late April, joining the coalition of more than 25 participating stores. For EBT card users, coupons at the bottom of their printed receipt can be used during their next visit for free fruits and vegetables.

The programs work alongside SNAP benefits. If a Market Place customer uses $10 of SNAP dollars to purchase fresh produce, they earn $10 in Double Up Food Bucks, redeemable only for fresh produce. Shoppers can save up their coupons for later use and there is no limit on how many coupons can be redeemed at once.

The La Grande Farmers Market participates in the DUFB program, but Market Place Fresh Foods is the only local grocery store that offers Double Up Food Buck benefits. Blake noted that the store’s hours offer shoppers flexibility.

“We have that option of seven days a week, at your convenience,” she said.

The DUFB program took root at the Portland Farmers Market in 2009. Then called Fresh Exchange, the program allows farmers market patrons to double their SNAP dollars and bring home more fresh produce.

The Farmers Market Fund took over the SNAP program three years later, and in 2019, the Oregon State Legislature appropriated $1.5 million in funds to the organization. This enabled the expansion of the DUFB program to more Oregon farmers markets, farm share sites and grocery stores.

Ryan Schoonover, the grocery team manager for the Double Up Food Bucks program, noted that one of the goals of expanding to grocery stores is to increase access to fresh, local produce for SNAP shoppers who might not have vibrant farmers markets nearby.

“It’s also an opportunity to have the program be available during months of the year, like in winter, when farmers markets are typically not in season,” he said.

As part of the program, Market Place Fresh Foods must commit to sourcing Oregon-grown produce during the peak growing months, between May and October. According to Blake, approximately 10% of the store’s produce is locally grown: from peaches and cherries to its corn and spring mix.

Blake has seen the amount of money going back to the community double since they started the Double Up program. She’s hopeful that more EBT card users in La Grande will have access to local produce.

“We just want to make sure that everyone in our community knows about it,” she said.