How GusNIP in the next Farm Bill can help small farmers

The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) is a USDA grant program authorized under the Farm Bill. It works to lower the cost of fruits and vegetables for customers shopping with SNAP benefits. Learn why this program is critical for small farmers and their communities.  

What is the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program?

The GusNIP program is a USDA grant program authorized under the 2018 Farm Bill, a sweeping piece of legislation that funds a wide range of food and agricultural programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). GusNIP works to lower the cost of fruits and vegetables for customers who shop with SNAP benefits.  

Currently less than 1 percent of SNAP participants receive GusNIP benefits, yet funds are not enough to meet demand. The upcoming Farm Bill is a critical opportunity for Congress to make it easier for millions of consumers who use SNAP to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. 

CSPI took the fight to Capitol Hill, advocating for easier access to fruits and veggies in SNAP. Our Hill Day brought together small farmers and partners for meetings with 37 offices across Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, and Louisiana, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Senator John Boozman (R-AR), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. 

How the program works—and its challenges

Under the GusNIP grant program, nonprofit and government agencies compete for funding for projects that provide nutrition incentive programs for their communities.  

Once organizations are awarded funding, they can offer nutrition incentives to their community members who shop with SNAP. Nutrition incentives are extra funds that can be used only for fresh fruits and vegetables at participating grocery stores, community, or farmers markets.  

“With these programs in place, I’m able to stay in my hometown and service my people. I’m able to see people who have limited budget or fixed incomes buy fresh, good local produce,” attested Chris Muse of Muse Three Farm, LLC, a farmer from Greensburg, Louisiana. “You’re doubling your money. You’re going to get more value for your money.”  

However, for every dollar that these organizations receive, grantees must match federal funds dollar for dollar. For example, if a local organization applies for $500,000 in federal GusNIP funds, that organization is required to raise $500,000 from outside sources, such as through private philanthropy or in-kind contributions, to meet GusNIP’s match requirements.  

This presents a barrier for lower-resourced organizations that do not have the capacity to apply for GusNIP grants and may not have diverse funding streams to meet the match provision. One small farmer, Pauline Rescorl of Seven Mornings Farm in Berryville, Arkansas, stated: “Our county has only been able to access these programs in the past couple of years, because the center and organizations we work with have to match this [funding]. If they couldn’t match it, we couldn’t use this program at a market, and it couldn’t benefit our farm.”  

How GusNIP helps farmers, consumers, and local communities

Nutrition incentives under the farm bill’s GusNIP program help SNAP participants obtain affordable, healthy food. GusNIP has been shown to increase food security and fruit and vegetable consumption, which is associated with decreased risk of diet-related diseases.  

For example, Iowa’s Double Up Food Bucks, the state’s GusNIP program, continues to benefit local farmers and communities. Becky Keegan and Tammy Donovan from Country Market in Sioux City, Iowa, shared, “We have noticed a huge, huge improvement in just our sales. We have a lot of families that are very happy that we have this program. We hear them say all the time, ‘You know, without this program, we would not be able to buy this produce.’”

However, the program currently does not support incentives for everyone who uses SNAP. Only 1 percent of all SNAP-participating retailers take part in GusNIP. This leaves an opportunity for more types of retailers to participate, from community food stores to farmers markets. However, participants who do purchase directly from farms show a greater increase in fruit and vegetable consumption than at any other types of outlets.  

“There are so many people who are eager to use these assistance programs at farmers markets,” said Rescorl. “People who want to match...their SNAP. There are people who will be waiting each market week to come and use their vouchers, use their EBT benefits at our market.”  

“So for a farmer, the impact of that is that I have another avenue that I can support my community. This past week, my husband and I planted 1,000 onion plants instead of the 400 that we planted last season, because we know that we can sell that and that supports our farm,” stated Rescorl.  

Fueling the next generation

The added benefit of expanding GusNIP programs to more community markets and farmers markets is that younger generations are also learning the importance of shopping local and eating fresh fruits and vegetables.  

“The good people we’ve come in contact with at the farmers market, and we see even LSU students come with SNAP,” stated Betty Chenier of Chenier Farm, Louisiana. “That was kind of shocking to me, but it’s good they are using their funds at the farmers market.”  

Some farmers, like Country Market in Iowa, even encourage kids to shop for their own vegetables. “Kids are learning at an early age now about produce and fruits and vegetables, how they’re grown,” stated Keegan and Donovan. “It just seems like an easy way to get them involved in eating healthier at a young age that, in turn, we know will help them as adults.”  

How you can help

CSPI is working to expand GusNIP in the next farm bill, including by calling on Congress to increase overall funding for the program and eliminating or significantly reducing the matching requirement to apply for funding. Take action and tell your representatives to support making it easier for shoppers who use SNAP to get fruits and vegetables.  

Tell your representative: Support access to nutritious food in the Farm Bill