Food Accessibility and Eating Healthy in the Winter Months

Winter can be a tough season, with its unforgiving weather patterns and isolating temperatures, and though it may be harder to eat healthy foods when you can’t grow them right outside your door, that’s all the more reason to take advantage of some wonderful resources and webpages to help you enjoy your winter veggies through the coming snow storms. 

What winter vegetables are out there?

Great question! Some popular winter vegetables in Oregon are brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, purple sprouting broccoli, and winter squash. Wondering how to cook them? Oregon State University Extension offers great resources through their Food Hero program that provides recipes on how to cook all different kinds of vegetables and meals, and this month's “how to” recipe just happens to be winter squash! Take a look at their Food Hero Monthly website to learn about all the fun ways you can incorporate vegetables into your meals throughout the year: https://www.foodhero.org/monthly. 

Itching for more information?

You’re not alone! In the winter of 2020-2021 in a project funded by the Oregon Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, the Oregon State University Vegetable Cropping Systems Program in collaboration with Oregon State University Small Farms Program and the Culinary Breeding Network led the “Eat Winter Vegetables” project virtually. This project offers virtual programs to learn about winter vegetables, how to cook them, how to grow them, virtual field tours, and more! All their recordings are offered on their website (https://www.eatwintervegetables.com/the-project), as well as recipes and other resources (https://www.eatwintervegetables.com/recipes). 

Prefer to grow your own vegetables? 

That’s okay too! Oregon State University Extension offers a booklet that teaches you how to grow and store vegetables throughout the winter, so you never have to wonder where your food is coming from. This booklet offers all the information you need to care for your plants in the Pacific Northwest climate, and even offers a list of other publications you may need to grow a successful garden. Take a look using this link! https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/pnw548.pdf 

How can I get vegetables? 
Valid question. The Oregon Food Bank offers a food finder search engine on its website. Just type in your address, city, or zip code, specify what you’re looking for, and hit search! The app will direct you to locations out of 1,400 food assistance sites in Oregon and Washington (https://foodfinder.oregonfoodbank.org/ ). Gorge Grown also offers a Free & Low-Cost Food Guide on their website (https://gorgegrown.com/food-assistance/)  that can help you find food near you. 

Food Accessibility: 

There have also been updates to the SNAP program this year that offer more accessibility to healthy foods. SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides benefits to more than 42 million eligible individuals and families across the nation each year through an Electronic Benefits Transfer card. This card functions as a debit card that allows participants to purchase certain food items in authorized retail food stores. In October this year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased SNAP benefits with a rise of 21%, which comes to $36 given per person, per month. This update came following a re-evaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to determine SNAP benefits. The re-evaluation took into account current food prices, what foods are in a typical American diet, the nutrients present in certain food items, and updated dietary guidelines. This update allows more people to access nutritional foods and brings SNAP closer to achieving its goal of boosting food security and health. 

What can I buy with SNAP?

SNAP can assist you in purchasing any food for the household, such as fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, bread, cereals, snack foods, and seeds and plants that can produce food for the household. SNAP cannot buy alcoholic beverages, vitamins, medicines, supplements, live animals, foods that are hot at the point of sale, pet foods, cleaning supplies, household supplies, hygiene products, or cosmetics. For a complete list of what SNAP can and can’t be used for, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items. 

How do I know if I’m eligible for SNAP?

Different states have different application forms and procedures, so you must apply for SNAP in the state where you currently live. A member of your household must contact your state agency directly to apply. You can contact your state agency by visiting your local SNAP office, visiting your state agency’s website, or calling your state’s SNAP information hotline. 

Oregon SNAP Program: 

Program Name: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Oregon Trail Card

Website: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-directory

Phone: (800) 723-3638

Local Office Location: https://www.oregon.gov/DHS/Offices/Pages/Self-Sufficiency.aspx 

The state agency will determine if you are eligible to receive SNAP benefits. If approved, you can receive benefits back to the date you submitted your application. Another person can act as an authorized representative on your behalf if you authorize them in writing and you are unable to call your local SNAP office, attend in person, or if you do not have access to the internet. Once you submit your application, you will most likely receive notice of your eligibility within 30 days. 

To learn more about SNAP eligibility and FAQs, visit https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/recipient/eligibility 

Another benefit of SNAP is it’s pairing with the Double Up Food Bucks Program. Double Up Food Bucks pairs with SNAP at participating farmer’s markets allowing you to buy even more fruits and vegetables. If you spend $10 with your Oregon Trail Card, Double Up Food Bucks will match that and give you $10 more to spend on fruits and veggies. The match amount was recently increased at most participating locations, so now up to $20 a day will be matched by Double Up Food Bucks. Farmer’s markets all across the state participate in Double Up Food Bucks, as well as many grocery stores and co-ops. For a complete list of participating locations, visit  https://doubleuporegon.org/. 

What Food Items with Double Up Food Bucks match? 

• Mushrooms

• Fruits and Vegetables

• Beans

• Herbs

• Veggie starts

• Nuts

Looking for more information on what assistance is out there?

Benefits.gov (https://www.benefits.gov/) offers a search engine for you to search for specific assistance programs based on what you need. You can browse by agency, different categories, or search based on your own personal information. This website can help you navigate what the different programs offer and decide which one is best for you.