City program connects SNAP recipients with small businesses

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Get The Good Stuff makes it easier for SNAP recipients to purchase fresh produce. Photo courtesy of the Health Department.

Get The Good Stuff makes it easier for SNAP recipients to purchase fresh produce. Photo courtesy of the Health Department.

By Jonathan Sperling

Money shouldn’t be an obstacle to getting fresh fruits and vegetables.

That’s the philosophy behind Get the Good Stuff, the latest in a series of New York City Health Department initiatives aimed at making it easier for low-income New Yorkers to purchase fresh produce.

For every $1 spent in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits at participating city supermarkets on eligible fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruits, vegetables and beans, shoppers get $1 added to a program loyalty card to spend on eligible foods on their next purchase.

Each day, eligible shoppers can earn up to $50 in incentives on their Get the Good Stuff card per day.

The program is currently available at three Fine Fare Supermarkets, including one located at 8945 163rd St. in Jamaica. The other two are located at 459 East 149th St. and 3550 White Plains Rd. in The Bronx. Shoppers with SNAP benefits can sign up for the program at participating stores’ customer service desks.

Eligible foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen fruits and vegetables without added sugar, salt or fat; canned fruits, vegetables, beans and lentils without added sugar, salt or fat; dried beans and lentils.

“This is a great program and a win-win for shoppers and small businesses,” said Manny Diaz, the general manager of the Fine Fare on 163rd Street. “New Yorkers who participate in SNAP have more money to buy fruits and vegetables while neighborhood grocery stores like mine get new customers and sell more produce.”

A fourth participating supermarket, Three Guys, located at 6502 Fort Hamilton Parkway in Brooklyn, will launch in early 2020, according to Health Department officials. 

The Get the Good Stuff program is supported with funding from the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture in partnership with the Fund for Public Health in New York City.