Making fresh food a SNAP.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

The federal government spent more than $34 billion on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, for 28 million people in 2008. And a new report says half of all American kids will live in families receiving food stamps at some time before they are 20 years old. One logical outlet to purchase healthy food--farmers' markets--is often out-of-reach for SNAP recipients, however. These markets, which provide fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms, often are not able to accept the credit-card like electronic benefits transfer card used to make SNAP purchases.

Farmers' markets, once an anomaly in many regions, have seen a renaissance in the past 15 years, from a total of 1,755 in 1994 to almost 5,300 in 2008. But low-income populations that suffer from a lack of nutritional food and related health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, often cannot afford to buy the fresh produce at such markets.

This year, lawmakers in nine states and Washington, D.C., debated legislation to add credit card terminals at farmers' markets to help SNAP recipients. Indiana, Vermont and Washington passed such measures.

Washington allocated $600,000 for 2010 and 2011 in part to help farmers obtain...