Cedar Chest, Grow Food Northampton Join Forces to Battle Food Insecurity

NORTHAMPTON — For the third year in a row, Cedar Chest, the anchor store in Thornes Marketplace on Main Street in downtown Northampton, will partner with food and farming-justice organization Grow Food Northampton to conduct the “Give $10, Get $10” promotion that helps community members grappling with food insecurity to afford healthy, local farm foods at Grow Food Northampton’s farmers markets all year long.

Grow Food Northampton’s SNAP Match program ensures that low-income residents can more than double their purchase of nutrient-rich local produce and other farm products at Tuesday Market behind Thornes Marketplace from April to November and, in the winter, at the Winter Market at the Northampton Senior Center. The “Give $10, Get $10” promotion, beginning June 11, allows Cedar Chest customers to come into the store and donate $10 to Grow Food Northampton’s SNAP Match program and, in turn, receive a $10 gift card to spend at Cedar Chest.

“Cedar Chest is thrilled to partner with Grow Food Northampton for the third year in a row,” Cedar Chest co-owner Alex Feinstein said. “Our ‘Give $10, Get $10’ campaign achieves so many important goals: it supports local agriculture; helps a vital nonprofit like Grow Food Northampton; supports our local business, Cedar Chest; and ensures that everyone in our community, no matter their income level, can eat fresh, healthy, locally grown farm foods. We welcome customers to join us in making a positive impact by simply giving $10 and, in return, receiving a $10 gift card.”

Alisa Klein, executive director of Grow Food Northampton, added that “this partnership with Cedar Chest is local generosity at its best. Thanks to them and several other local businesses, our SNAP Match program ensures that food grown in the rich soils right here where we live are nourishing the people who need it the most. Every year, as food insecurity grows, the SNAP Match program grows. We’re lucky that so many local businesses understand the need to support this work. We rely on their generosity for the continued success of this ever-expanding program.”