Yahoo Finance Food Stamps: This State is Offering $25 Back For Buying Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
For every dollar spent on SNAP-eligible fresh fruits and vegetables, participants in Rhode Island will receive 50 cents in rewards (up to $25 per month) in additional benefits directly credited to their EBT card. This is the first statewide program of its kind in the country.
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The Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS) launched SNAP Eat Well, Be Well, a pilot incentive program to help increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables and alleviate food insecurity for Rhode Island’s most vulnerable families. The program was funded through a $11.5 million budgetary appropriation of the Rhode Island General Assembly to the DHS during the 2022 legislative session.
SNAP recipients will automatically receive the reward on their EBT card after making an eligible purchase at any Stop & Shop or Walmart location across the state. It works like this: if you purchase $15.50 in fresh produce, you will earn $7.75 in incentives.
Below are items that are eligible for the incentive, but participating stores will also identify which are approved:
Fresh fruits and vegetables that are cut or whole
Edible seeds
Fresh herbs
Salad kits, inclusive of products that have cheese, croutons, dressing, etc. included.
Pomegranate cups (fresh arils)
Potted fruit, vegetable and herb plants
Fresh garlic
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You can view your accumulated EWBW rewards on your grocery receipt, the HealthyRhode mobile app or through the healthyrhode.ri.gov customer portal. You can spend your rewards on any SNAP-eligible purchase at a grocery store within 274 days (about 9 months) after purchase.
“Food insecurity is a very serious crisis that affects far too many Rhode Islanders,” said Sen. Valarie J. Lawson (D-East Providence). “I was proud to champion legislation that led to the creation of the SNAP Eat Well, Be Well pilot program, which will increase the amount of nutritious foods on the tables of thousands of our most vulnerable, food insecure neighbors — many of which are children, seniors and working families.”
According to the RI Community Food Bank, food insecurity, defined by the USDA as a “household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food,” currently impacts nearly one in three households in Rhode Island. Healthy food items are extremely cost-prohibitive, especially for low-income households. The average household in Rhode Island receives $315 in benefits per month, per the Brown University School of Public Health.
Check the state’s DHS website for the most up-to-date list of participating stores.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Food Stamps: This State is Offering $25 Back For Buying Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
