Food stamp beneficiaries at Ball’s Price Chopper in Roeland Park, Kan., near Kansas City get credits of up to $25 per day for purchases of locally grown fruits and vegetables using their store loyalty cards. The customers can use the "Double Up" credits to buy an equal amount of fruits and vegetables at a later time. Kansas City charities pay for the increased purchasing power for the food stamp beneficiaries. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

A Kansas City grocery store executive told the American Bankers Association agriculture meeting last week how his stores have used local and organic foods and fruits and vegetables to differentiate them from the competition, even among food stamp beneficiaries, Jerry Hagstrom writes in his National Journal column today.

The popularity of these foods raises questions about whether farmers will change what they grow and raise.

• National Journal — The Shopper is Always Right

 
Left: Store service manager Donna McDaniel with a display of local apple cider. Right: Cashier Selena Calderon with a display of imported produce: Fresh napales (cactus paddles) and napalitos (cactus shoots).


Mario Valencia, produce manager. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)


Ball's Price Chopper in Roeland Park, Kan., promotes local organically grown produce. From left are produce manager Mario Valencia, store service manager Donna McDaniel, store director Mark Selders, and cashier Selena Calderon. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)