If rising food prices are shrinking your grocery list, the holidays are not going to make it easier.
“You know, big family gatherings always mean a lot of food," said Amazon spokesperson Janet Careaga.
That’s especially difficult for low-income families relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in 2022, 2,847,100 Floridians received food assistance through SNAP. More than 60% of them are in families with children and more than 47% are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled.
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“One out of eight people in Florida are Snap EBT recipients or participants. We know that times are tough right now. You know, cost of living is high, inflation is high,” Careaga said.
Looking to make their services accessible to those families, Amazon launched "Amazon Access," which allows SNAP recipients to shop in stores, online and even get their groceries delivered.
"You can buy everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to pantry staples like rice and beans, canned foods," Careaga said.
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On www.Amazon.com/Access you’ll see what items you can purchase using SNAP EBT. You don’t need a Prime membership, there are no delivery fees for orders over $100 and when you shop online, you can work around your budget.
"What's nice about shopping online is you can always see what's in your cart and you can add and remove as you see fit based on your budget," Careaga said.
Stores like Walmart and Target also offer similar services for customers who shop with SNAP EBT cards.
Another way to get more bang for your buck is taking advantage of the deep discounts the state of Florida offers through its nutrition incentive program called Fresh Access Bucks. It encourages SNAP recipients to buy local fruits and vegetables.
"Our program doubles what a snap shopper can spend and what they can earn on fresh fruits and vegetables in our outlets across the state," Fresh Access Bucks director Katie Delaney said. "We mostly work with farmer’s markets, farm stands, mobile markets, CSA’s which are community supported agriculture, we also work in small community grocery stores as well."
Fresh Access Bucks works like this: when a shopper uses their SNAP card at a Fresh Access Bucks point of sale, for every dollar spent on participating groceries, they get an extra dollar to buy Florida fruits and vegetables.
Community gardens like The Patch in Dania Beach and The Fruitful Field in Pompano Beach are Fresh Access Bucks points of sale. You can also find local farmers participating in the program, like Margie Pikarsky, owner of the Bee Heavan Farm and the Urban Oasis Project in Miami Dade.
For a complete list of points of sale, you can click here.
