The Brookhaven Farmer’s Market will serve as a testing groundthis year for a little-utilized program that could mean increasedrevenue for farmers and cheap, healthy food for participants.

When the market opens on June 1, it will become just the seventhmarket in Mississippi that participates in the Women, Infants andChildren Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program, a program that willallow farmers to accept vouchers issued to 200 Lincoln County WICparticipants. The 200 participants will be issued $15 worth ofvouchers each, a total that could result in an additional $3,000for local farmers.

Mississippi Department of Agriculture FMNP Coordinator PurvieGreen said the program, which has been active in the state for 11years, is designed to support local farmers with additional revenuewhile simultaneously allowing people who might not otherwise shopat farmer’s markets to be introduced to healthy foods.

“At a farmer’s market, you’re used to 100-200 people, but withWIC, you’re giving incentive to bring in another 100-200 people,”he said. “It’s one of the few real win-win programs availablebecause you’re benefiting two groups at one time.”

Green said the WIC program would begin in July, one month afterthe farmer’s market opens.

Farmers who sign up for the program before July will beauthorized to accept WIC vouchers, which will be issued to WICparticipants beforehand. The vouchers can be used only at thefarmer’s market and will be accepted there until Oct. 24.

Green said this year’s trial run at the Brookhaven market coulddetermine the availability of the program in the future. If theprogram is successful enough to garner more funding from the USDA,Green said the number of vouchers issued in the future couldincrease, meaning more WIC participants and more money forfarmers.

Brookhaven Farmer’s Market President James Richmond, who hasparticipated in the program previously at the Jackson farmer’smarket, said last year 5 percent of his total sales – $500 – werefrom WIC vouchers. Fruits and berries are the best sellers amongWIC participants, he said.

“I’ve got produce to sell, and this program puts some customersthrough who would probably not be at the farmer’s market,” Richmondsaid.

Richmond said county residents who receive WIC vouchers for theprogram should show up to spend them early. In the past, he said,some voucher holders have waited until the last day of the program,rushed to the farmer’s market and found all the good producegone.

“We hope they’ll come out to the market as soon as they getthem,” Richmond said.

Lincoln County Extension Service Director Rebecca Bates said theWIC FMNP should be a good program to generate more interest in themarket. If all goes well this year, Bates said next year she wouldtry to install the Senior Voucher Program, a program similar to WICthat allows senior citizens to use vouchers at the farmer’smarket.

“I thought it would be a great program to go hand-in-hand withthe Senior Citizen Center,” she said, referring to the center nowunder construction just a block away from the farmer’s market.