When Melissa Mahon Stein was growing up, most of the adults in her life had their hands in the dirt. Her grandparents on both sides of her family were farmers. Her mom loved gardening. Mahon Stein decided, when she was young, that she wanted to follow a similar path.

She took a 20-year detour in Chicago, before relocating with her husband to the small Wisconsin community of Soldier’s Grove. There, in the Driftless Region of the state, Mahon Stein left her job with one of the nation’s leading food distributors to become a small producer. 

“I was walking back from where we were growing at the time, stopped on a bridge over the creek and I was like, ‘This is my chance,’” Mahon Stein said. “I have this opportunity. Not everyone gets this. I haven’t had this chance until now. I decided to go ahead and go for it.”

Going for it initially meant working as a laborer on other people’s farms while holding down a part-time gig as a waitress at a local cafe, which coincidentally prided itself on sourcing produce from local growers. “It was a good way to get to know more people in the community,” she said. 

Mahon Stein founded BearStone Acres farm with her husband. Once she began growing her own produce, her social circle expanded even more. She put down roots as part of the farming community at the farmers markets in nearby Viroqua and Soldiers Grove connecting with neighbors, fellow growers and advocates for locally-grown food. 

And it was in those connections that she found a pathway to work with fellow Farmers Union chapter members to  pilot a nutrition incentive program for SNAP recipients at the market. SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides a monthly stipend of federal funds for select grocery items for individuals and families who meet income eligibility requirements. The incentive program they were trying to pilot at the farmers market would match, dollar for dollar, whatever a SNAP recipient planned to spend at the market that day.

“It’s just an easy way to increase access to healthy nutritious foods and support local farmers who are business owners and keep money in the community,” Mahon Stein, said. “It’s an all around win.”

The market, run by the Chamber of Commerce, was on board. And a $1,500 grant from the Wisconsin Farmers Union would cover the 100% matching funds for the program. Mahon Stein worked with Matthew Kronschnabel, the chapter president of the local farmers Uunion, and Elena Bird in pulling the pilot program off. She said the 100% match had significance. 

At that time, an imminent government shutdown would disrupt SNAP benefits right before the holiday season.

“We were afraid people wouldn’t have their benefits in November,” Mahon Stein said. “I saw people coming through the market I had never seen before. They could just come and buy the food they needed for their homes. And, like that was the point.”

The Viroqua farmers market, in a county that is considered to have the highest concentration of organic farms in the country, traditionally runs from May to October. The pilot program offering the nutrition incentive was only available at October’s market, because it took time to iron out the logistics of the program. Despite the limited timeline, Mahon Stein said the market collected 35% of all of its SNAP dollars for the season during that one month.

“Not only do people spend more on what the funds can be used for but then they have more personal funds available to spend at vendors who don’t qualify for SNAP, like prepared foods, and crafts, giving them more buying power,” Mahon Stein said. “Through the match, their dollars can go to other places.”

More than anything, the one-month pilot proved that it’s worth investing in for the future. Mahon Stein said the farmers market wants to continue the program, and the Farmers Union chapter is thinking of ways to raise the funds that are needed to cover the matching funds.

“We’re not only providing more dollars for people to use, but we’re keeping more dollars local. When you spend your SNAP dollars at Wal-Mart, they leave immediately. Very little of what you spend at Wal-Mart stays in the community,” Mahon Stein said. “To keep that money in the community, it helps the community writ large. In rural spaces there is so much struggle to keep communities together and have them be strong and supported and keep people farming and pushing back against consolidation. This is one of those pieces that helps to build that. This is one brick in that building of community.”