Farm Truck 912 Serves Record Numbers of Savannah Families as SNAP Benefits Increase

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Feb. 13, 2022 - PRLog -- 160,000 Coastal Georgians may qualify but only 37,000 are using SNAP benefits.

(SAVANNAH, GA) When the Coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, many Savannahians who were already living below the poverty line began facing even harsher circumstances fueled by lockdowns and job losses. Their day-to-day struggles included greater food insecurity, increased risk of diet-related chronic diseases and uncertainty about being able to feed their children to foster their physical and cognitive development.

But even as the pandemic hit hard and shuttered many businesses, Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of the Coastal Georgia, administrators of the five-year, $3.4 million grant called Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH), began investing funding through a key stakeholder, Forsyth Farmers' Market, in a program that would deliver a new way to access healthy nutritious foods.

Farm Truck 912, the mobile version of the popular Forsyth Farmers' Market, continued to operate throughout the early days of the pandemic. It even added four new stops and began operating six days a week on a schedule throughout Chatham County and across all economic strata. Demand would surge throughout 2020, with overall sales increasing by 200 percent and Supplemental Nutrition Incentive Program (SNAP)-funded purchases surging by 400 percent.

Then, in October 2021, almost all households receiving SNAP benefits began receiving an increase in those benefits. For Georgia residents, this would generally amount to about 15% or $12-$16 dollars a month.

However, Forsyth Farmers' Market and Farm Truck 912 were already extending additional benefits that let customers stretch their budgets even further.

But while these efforts were helping to provide more nutritious foods to many Savannahians, there were still those who qualified but didn't apply for the SNAP program.

Healthy Savannah reports that 160,000 people in Coastal Georgia struggle with food insecurity. But, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only 13 percent (37,007) of Chatham County households use SNAP. The median income of those receiving SNAP is $20,150 as compared to $58,593 for those not using SNAP.

Kreissler is also encouraged that a new Farm Truck may soon be bringing even more fresh produce across Chatham County in the near future.

For additional information and routes for Farm Truck 912, visit forsythfarmersmarket.com/farmtruck912. For more information or to apply for SNAP, visit gateway.ga.gov/access/, call or visit Moses Jackson Advancement center at (912) 525-2166, 1410 B Richards Street, Savannah, GA 31415; or contact Step Up Savannah at stepupsavannah.org/ or (912) 232-6747. Food assistance resources are additionally available at herohelpme.com.