LACKAWANNA, N.Y. — Double Up Food Bucks NY (DUFBNY) has been helping fight food insecurity across Western New York for a decade now.
It's made it affordable to eat healthy fruits and vegetables.
If you use supplemental nutrition assistance or snap for short, DUFBNY doubles up on your fruit and veggie purchases, which can be up to $20 a day. That means you and your family get twice as many fruits and vegetables.
Since 2014, thousands of New York families have used this program to buy more than 4.9 million pounds of healthy food. FeedMore WNY and Field and Fork Network have teamed up to help bring this program and produce to your neighborhood.
FeedMore's Mobile Food Pantry takes their fresh, locally grown produce throughout Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties. Their mobile pantry has about 39 locations they visit throughout the week.
"People lack transportation constant transportation to always get to stores always get those services," Collin Bishop, chief communications officer with FeedMore WNY said.
"Families are needing to stretch those food dollars. We find that double up usage really starts to grow then. Ultimately, that's what we are trying to do. We want to make sure families can stretch those dollars," Josh McGuire, program director with Double Up Food Bucks NY said.
"Struggling to make ends meet. I am one of them and I am not ashamed to admit that. I am glad that I can be able to come here and get some fruits and vegetables for my family," Auntionutte Rodolph said.
For every dollar you spend it will be match dollar for dollar. For example, if you spend $5 on fruits and veggies. You will get $5 to spend on fruits and veggies.
To celebrate DUFBNY milestone, they are giving away prizes. This includes air fryer, crockpot and kitchen tools. The contest ends today, but its important to note that the program continues all year long.
If you would like to learn more information about it or find a Mobile Food Pantry that's closest to you, you can go to their website here.