Farmers’ market coupons help people access affordable, local, healthy food
At farmers’ markets throughout the Columbia Basin, people wander the stalls in search of heads of crisp lettuce, pyramids of plump tomatoes and cartons of freshly collected eggs. Bags full, they depart ready to nourish their bodies with healthy, locally grown, delicious food.
In Invermere, one of these buyers has been Evelyn Walker, Executive Director of Windermere Valley Child Care. In summer 2025, she attended the market to purchase food for the centre’s children, who are “berry-aholics,” she says. Down the highway, in Golden, senior Carol Caldwell frequents the market, too, and loves “all of the fresh fruit and vegetables.”
Like Carol and these kids, many people across the Columbia Basin have been able to enjoy local harvests thanks to the BC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Coupon Program. Run by the BC Association of Farmers’ Markets, this program enables lower-income families, pregnant people and seniors to obtain coupons to purchase items such as vegetables, fruit, eggs and meat.
New in 2025, Columbia Basin Trust also requested that coupons be specifically earmarked for Columbia Basin seniors living in affordable housing units operated by non-profits, plus eligible licensed child care providers. By entirely funding these additions, plus supporting the program in general in the Basin, the Trust helps make access to this kind of local, healthy food possible.
Helping Little Ones Grow
At its busiest times, about 60 children enliven the rooms of Windermere Valley Child Care. The centre provides morning snack. “We wanted to make sure that all of our kids had a good start to their day.” The coupons “gave us the opportunity to really support local food, and to buy things that we weren’t otherwise able to afford for our kiddos. They could try things like Basin blueberries and locally grown strawberries. They were pretty excited.”
Some of the children even did a taste test between store-bought and Basin-grown blueberries. “Which ones are bigger and which ones are juicier and which ones are plumper?—and they could tell. They were like, ‘This is the best blueberry ever!’”
Sustenance for Seniors
In Golden, seniors have access to the resources they need to thrive through programs like Better at Home and the Seniors’ Community Connector. In that community, both of these groups offer the coupons.
Carol found the coupons especially valuable while her husband was ill. “The fresh vegetables were wonderful. The ability to feed him healthily was huge.”
She freezes or cans the food that doesn’t get eaten immediately, so it’s available in winter. And, in an act of looking out for each other, the seniors who receive the coupons are also known to share their farmers’ market finds.
Expanded Recipients—and Benefits
Columbia Basin Trust has been supporting the coupon program since 2018, and funded its recent inclusion of Basin child care facilities and seniors living in affordable housing. The goal is to help increase opportunities for Basin residents to access affordable, locally grown, nutritious food.
The benefits extend beyond food. The children in Invermere, for example, learned about what can be grown nearby thanks to the area’s climate. “It has opened so many doors,” Evelyn says.
And Carol and other Golden seniors enjoy the social aspect of the market. “A lot of us go for coffee and tea afterwards and have a good catch-up.”
So if you wander a farmers’ market and see a sign posted at a stall—FARMERS’ MARKET NUTRITION COUPONS ACCEPTED HERE—know that children, families and seniors alike are enjoying wholesome, tasty food while supporting the farmers that make the Basin so nutritionally rich.
