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Fresh vegetables and fruits for sale at a farmer market stall.

Garfield County reinstating WIC farmers market program

Board of County Commissioners approves $20,000 to fund the popular program

PRESS RELEASE
April 28, 2025

Garfield County Public Health (GCPH) is reinstating the Garfield County WIC Farmers Market Program and once again operating it locally, following the state taking the program over in 2021. The state’s Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) ended on Oct. 31, 2024, and is not coming back in 2025, according to Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Colorado.

GCPH Nutrition Programs Manager Christine Dolan told the Board of County Commissioners that the WIC Farmers Market Program has operated in Garfield County since 2009.

“It began with a budget of $1,500, it was a pilot program that just included the Glenwood downtown market,” she said. “In 2010, the budget increased to $10,000, in 2012 it was $14,000, and in 2015, it was $20,000, and it remained that way until 2021, when the state had some funding and was able to take over.”

Dolan noted that the program has historically used paper vouchers for clients to purchase food (fruits and vegetables only), but the state’s model from 2021 to 2024 didn’t operate as smoothly as it had in the past when we had local funding.

“There was low usage, there weren’t a lot of administrative funds provided to the state to make this program work efficiently,” she said. “Our WIC clients would submit an application and a couple weeks later they would receive vouchers in the mail. In Garfield County, we were only allowed to have a couple markets participate and that made it difficult to spend the vouchers, though we had a pretty robust system prior to the state taking over.”

Dolan said that markets in Carbondale, Glenwood Springs, New Castle, Rifle, and Parachute are interested in participating and take place June through September. To qualify for WIC, clients must include families with children under 5, mothers who are pregnant or mothers who are breastfeeding, and earn less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. This equates to roughly 750 families or around 1,400 clients in Garfield County.

“In the past, we’ve been able to get a 70 percent redemption rate on the vouchers,” Dolan said. “In the fall, the vendors typically submit all the vouchers they’ve collected throughout the season, and they are paid. It’s been a great system and is very popular with our clients.

“It was convenient, it was local, and the farmers loved it because they were able to participate in a program that created relationships with local families,” she added of the program being operated locally. “It was a good all-around program, and it worked pretty well.”

The board approved reinstating $20,000 for the WIC farmer market unanimously, 3-0. The supplemental request comes out of the county’s general fund.

“This falls under our goal of having a safety net and food supply for low-income families,” said Commissioner Tom Jankovsky. “We want every individual in Garfield County to have access to nutritious food and this provides healthy options.”