Dozens of farmers markets across state may stop accepting food stamps very soon

ATLANTA — Dozens of Georgia farmers markets will have to stop accepting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits as payment by the end of the month.

Channel 2's Lori Wilson spoke to the farmers at Lilburn Community Garden, a community that works really hard to make sure residents have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. They have a hugely successful farmer's market where about 40 vendors now have to worry about making ends meet.

Mandy McManus, who has managed the Lilburn farmers market for nine years, said that, for five years, vendors have accepted payments from SNAP benefits.

"We've advertised it everywhere in the community. EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) is an important part of our community, as it is in every community," McManus said.

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As of now, on July 31, farmers will have to stop processing SNAP payments because the government ended its contract with Novodia, the company that makes the app that allows SNAP payments to be processed. Farmers markets that use Novodia were only notified on July 1.

"It's terrible timing. It couldn't be worse. What we were not prepared for was for the old company to shut down," said Sagdrina Jalal, the executive director of the Georgia Farmers Market Association.

"It not only impacts families, but it also impacts farmers who have become accustomed to counting those sales along with credit card sales and cash sales," Jalal said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture sent out a statement regarding the app shutdown this weekend, saying in part:

"... USDA has been exploring all available options in an attempt to avoid a service disruption. Our number one goal is to mitigate the impact on our program participants as well as farmers and producers."

"We're hoping for an eleventh hour savior. We're hoping for something to come through that will change in the next two weeks so, we're crossing fingers,"

Thirty-nine farmers markets in the state use Novodia. There are other companies the markets can use, but that process takes months to set up, meaning they would be out of luck until next year.

Cox Media Group