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WIC farmer's market brings fresh veggies, fruits to Midway

Photos by Joe Culpepper/Gulf Breeze News ABOVE: Linda and Lloyd Wise (right) assist Amber Hoagland (left, in black) of Gulf Breeze as she shops for fresh foods at the special farmer's market in Midway sponsored by the WIC program. Hoagland was purchasing fruits and vegetables for her two sons, Brendan, 3, and Ethan, 1 month. The selection of fresh fruits and vegetables almost was overwhelming.

But having access to the homegrown foods available at the Santa Rosa County Health Department's Midway location was much appreciated by local mother Amber Hoagland.

"I want to feed my children right, give them good nutrition," nodded Hoagland, the mother of two sons who took the 15-minute drive Wednesday, June 4, to take advantage of a farmer's market expansion into South Santa Rosa county.

"My children enjoy fruits and vegetables, and I like them, too. Fruits and produce this fresh - you really can't find that at a grocery store."

The health department's Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program sponsored the spring and summer market. It will return to the Midway health department Wednesday, July 2.

RIGHT: Claudia Jacobian (left) of Gulf Breeze demonstrates to her 2-year-old daughter, Katie, 2, how to bite into a juicy, sweet peach that was harvested only hours earlier on a farm in Milton. WIC is a program of the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. It provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health-care referrals, and nutrition education for lowincome pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.

Each year, WIC issues $20 farmer's market coupons to all eligible family members of the program.

On this particular day, about 50 local residents shopped for fresh-off-the-vine foods that previously were available only at participating WIC farmer's markets in Milton, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach.

"In year's past, Midway has had the lowest coupon redemption rate for our county," said Detta Barrett of the WIC program. "Midway residents had to travel a long way to redeem their coupons."

In recent months, Barrett has worked hard to increase utilization of the coupons by coordinating with local farmers and inviting them to rural areas like Midway and Jay.

"This is a good example of how community partnerships can help our health department increase access to services for all citizens in the county," said Shannon Jacobs, the health department's administrator. "We hope our clients in Gulf Breeze, Midway and Navarre will take advantage of this opportunity."

Linda Wise, representing Double D Farms of Milton, said the WIC program and access to farmer's markets are important.

"The price you pay for fruits and vegetables in the grocery store is high," she said. "This is a program that helps make sure that young people in families, pregnant women and children age 5 and under get fresh produce and fruits, which include all their main vitamins needs.

"For the mothers who have small children at home who can't travel to Milton and the outlying farms, this brings the fruits and vegetables to them. It saves the working man on his gas.

"These days, probably 80 percent of children age 10 and under don't even know what it is to have a fresh peach or a new potato that's actually a new potato."

This particular program will end after July 2. Wise would like to see it extended.

"I wish there was a yearround program," she said. "They do the WIC program for milk and formula for pregnant mothers and children all year long. But fruits and vegetables come in all year long, too."

For additional information on local farmer's markets, call the WIC program at (850) 983- 5250. To learn more about qualifying for the WIC program, visit www.doh.state.fl.us/chd SantaRosa/index.htm.