Red tape strangles senior fresh food program

For about 10 years, almost 200 fixed-income senior citizens have benefited from a little program that provides $20 worth of $2 coupons to buy fresh food at local farmers markets.

But now the federal government's newest "one-size fits all regulations" have made it unfeasible for the Flathead's Agency on Aging to administer the tiny $3,500 grant. When attempts by local and state officials to modify requirements failed, the agency had to say "no thanks."

Instead, agency Director Jim Atkinson hopes to replace the money through private contributions.

"My advisory council wants to get the money from other places so we could run it the way we want with much less red tape," Atkinson said.

He said the agency and council have run the program all these years without administrative money. Atkinson said both seniors and local farmers benefited.

"We felt it was worth it to get local fruits and vegetables into seniors' bodies," he said.

Seniors like Gloria Megahan, 72, of Kalispell always look forward to their summer excursions for both the quality food and friendships. The coupon book helps her replace the vegetables she used to raise in her garden before she developed a bad back.

"I've used it for two years and I love it," Megahan said. "I go especially for the tomatoes - the ones in the stores don't taste as good."

She said she also enjoys the green onions and green beans that she picks up in the market with the $2 coupons in her book of 10.

"I always save the last two or three for butternut squash," Megahan said.

She added that many people her age no longer garden so they really enjoy having access to the farm-fresh produce. Megahan said it also gets people out of the house.

"It's fun to grab a friend and go down there," she said. "It's nice to see all the people out in the summer. A lot of seniors come. It's fantastic."

According to Wes Hulla, 188 seniors participated in the coupon program last year. They qualify at age 60 if their income falls below a certain percentage of federal poverty guidelines.

Hulla, the Agency on Aging's office administrator, said the coupon distribution started as a simple pilot program. Grants come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Montana's Senior and Long Term Care Division which makes subgrants to various areas.

"It was originally conceived to be a benefit to farmers and to get a population out that normally doesn't go down there," he said.

Hulla said the agency placed ads and put flyers in with commodities deliveries and in local senior centers. The coupon idea caught on with both farmers and seniors.

As the years passed, however, the federal regulations multiplied.

Hulla handled compliance, most often going to the market to sign up farmers. He would explain that they couldn't give change back from the $2 coupon, along with other rules and regulations.

"People would change over summer to fall so I would go every week to sign new people up," he said. "We have about 40 farmers."

Hulla also spent time observing at the market to make sure everyone understood and followed the rules. He said the market master was very cooperative, arranging to pay the farmers for their coupons at the end of each market, then collect later from the agency.

Last year, the federal regulations added more wrinkles, requiring that each farmer have training in civil rights requirements. So Hulla added that information when he signed up farmers.

In the latest publication of rules, a state agency representative must provide the civil rights training. And grant recipients must develop a fraud and abuse prevention plan to make sure no one gets more than one set of coupons.

While he said he understands the intent, Hulla said these rules don't make sense for rural areas with tiny amounts of money. He points out that no elderly person would drive hundreds of miles for a few extra dollars in coupons.

"And, when you think about it, what's the worst thing that would happen? Someone would get $20 in groceries that they need."

Too often, he said, elderly people live out of cans and cereal boxes.

Hulla said the idea of having a state worker give each farmer civil rights training also was well-intentioned but not practical because of the logistics of vendors coming and going throughout the season. Some farmers come just one or two times when they have produce to sell.

"It's just more government regulations on top of a small program," Hulla said.

The new rules also raised the allocation to $40 per senior, which meant cutting out half the seniors or taking grant money from seniors in the Billings program.

The Agency on Aging and advisory council didn't support taking money from an area with more population. But no one wanted to cut out half of the program beneficiaries, especially when seniors seemed well-satisfied with the $20 allocations.

"How would we make that determination?" Hulla asked. "First come, first served?"

He said state officials worked as hard as he did to get changes that allowed the Agency on Aging to accept the federal grant. Federal officials took their concerns under review but no exceptions were made in the end.

The council decided reluctantly that the grant would have to go, but hoped to keep the program alive if possible.

"What we would like to do is raise $3,500 from the local area people," Hulla said. "We'll continue to operate it as always but we'll streamline it with fewer regulations."

People interested in contributing to the program may contact Hulla at 758-5730 or mail a contribution designated for farmers market coupons to the Agency on Aging, 160 Kelly Road, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.