The Market at Pepper Place Joins the “Double-Up Food Bucks” Initiative
Pepper Place is working to make healthy local food accessible to all!
We have always been huge fans of The Market at Pepper Place! In fact, the Market is so great that **Andrew Zimmern** stopped by last year to film a segment for his show **”The Zimmern List”** on Travel Channel! 
We now have yet another reason to cheer on Pepper Place. This year the Market is participating in the Double-Up Food Bucks program! This initiative is part of Alabama’s state SNAP food program and it aims to make available the great produce sold by the wonderful farmers from around the community to those who are struggling with financial obstacles.
You may not realize this, but The Market at Pepper Place has a wooden token system that is accessible via their information booth. Regular $1 tokens are used to allow patrons to purchase items from vendors who don’t take cards. Forgot to bring cash and can’t find an ATM? Get some $1 tokens!
The Market also has $1 EBT tokens which can be used to purchase fruits, veggies, bread, cheese, meat, packaged foods, and packaged coffee and tea! This allows for those who are in need of EBT assistance to get the full benefit of Pepper Place and support local farmers, coffee shops, and more. 
The best part of the program is “Double-Up Food Bucks!” This DOUBLES the value of SNAP benefits when used to purchase fruits and vegetables from vendors! These specific tokens encourage patrons to shop local and make healthier food choices! This is a definite win/win especially since one of the main goals of the Market is to promote community wellness! Because of the Double-Up program, more local produce will make it into homes that otherwise would buy from big box stores. 
So how does this affect the merchants? Well, it’s super easy! Any merchant who receives tokens can turn them into the Info Tent each Saturday from 11:30am-12pm. Pepper Place will then mail a reimbursement check out to the vendor at the end of each month. It’s that simple! 
We are so proud of The Market at Pepper Place for choosing to participate in this program! This is yet another way Pepper Place is working to bring our community together in a spirit of fellowship and mutual aid. Next time you go support Pepper Place take a moment to appreciate what they do for our community. You can also stop by the info booth and thank them in person while learning even more about the great things the Market is doing for Birmingham! -Russell & Amber H.
