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Recent meals at a Northwest Arkansas farmers market.
| LITTLE ROCK — The College of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) obtained grants from the Walmart Basis, $250,000, and the Alice L. Walton Basis, $100,000, to help the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) Farmers’ Market Alliance’s Double Your {Dollars} program, an initiative that gives residents entry to reasonably priced, wholesome meals at farmers markets.
Created in 2012 to handle meals insecurity of low-income residents in Northwest Arkansas, the Double Your {Dollars} program offers recipients of Supplemental Diet Help Program (SNAP) and the Senior Farmers Market Diet Program (SFMNP) vouchers with one-to-one greenback matched tokens for buying wholesome, domestically grown meals at taking part farmers markets. In 2020, this system was expanded to just accept Pandemic SNAP help.
“Growing entry to more healthy meals is crucial for the well-being of communities,” mentioned Rachel Spencer, senior supervisor of strategic initiatives at Walmart.org. “The Double Your {Dollars} program helps join individuals with the nutritious meals they should thrive, and we’re excited to help this program.”
This system was created by the NWA Farmers’ Market Alliance and the College of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, with the Walmart Basis supporting this system since its inception. In 2021, the UAMS Workplace of Group Well being & Analysis assumed administration of this system.
“Meals insecurity is a powerful predictor of diet-related persistent illnesses,” mentioned Amy Wenger, MHSA, vice chancellor of the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. “We’re grateful to each the Walmart Basis and the Alice L. Walton Basis for his or her generosity and their dedication to enhance entry to high-quality nutritious meals for low-income people in Benton and Washington counties.”
Collaborating farmers markets embody:
- Bentonville Farmers Market
- Fayetteville Farmers Market
- Goshen Farmers Market
- Gravette Farmers Market
- Downtown Rogers Farmers Market
- Rogers Native Meals Market
- Siloam Springs Farmers Market
- Springdale Farmers’ Market
- The Meals Conservancy of NWA in Springdale
Along with matching meals purchases, the grants will help promotional efforts and diet schooling, together with cooking demonstrations at markets. All supplies and occasions additionally accommodate Spanish and Marshallese audio system.
“Federal diet advantages reminiscent of SNAP have confirmed efficient in lowering meals insecurity by bettering entry to more healthy meals,” mentioned Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., MBA, division director of the UAMS Workplace of Group Well being & Analysis. “Nonetheless, low-income Arkansans who make the most of these federal advantages nonetheless face a number of limitations to accessing wholesome meals, together with affordability of nutritious meals, linguistically and culturally applicable supplies and assets about using this system, and diet schooling about wholesome meals. These beneficiant donations from the Walmart Basis and the Alice L. Walton Basis will assist shut a few of these gaps and eradicate the limitations to meals safety.”
For extra details about the Double Your {Dollars} program, go to marketsnap.uark.edu and fb.com/ArkansasMarketSnap.
UAMS is the state’s solely well being sciences college, with schools of Drugs, Nursing, Pharmacy, Well being Professions and Public Well being; a graduate faculty; a hospital; a foremost campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide community of regional campuses; and 7 institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Most cancers Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Backbone & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Analysis Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Getting old, Translational Analysis Institute and Institute for Digital Well being & Innovation. UAMS consists of UAMS Well being, a statewide well being system that encompasses all of UAMS’ scientific enterprise. UAMS is the one grownup Stage 1 trauma heart within the state. UAMS has 3,047 college students, 873 medical residents and fellows, and 6 dental residents. It’s the state’s largest public employer with greater than 11,000 staff, together with 1,200 physicians who present care to sufferers at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Youngsters’s, the VA Medical Middle and Baptist Well being. Go to www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Discover us on Fb, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.
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