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2025 Impact Report
Virginia Fresh Match empowers SNAP shoppers to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers and businesses, connecting those producers with more customers and sales. While Virginians spend over a billion dollars in SNAP each year, less than 1% of that is spent on local food, often due to affordability and access limitations. Since 2009, outlets across Virginia have worked to bridge the gap, offering our nutrition incentive program, thanks to support from our funders at the local, state, and national level.
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2025 was a year of adaptation, growth, and deepening partnerships across the VFM network. We hit a major milestone, redeeming over $1.1M in nutrition incentives (i.e.: SNAP Match), a 15% increase from 2024, at more than 150 sites across the state.
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More than one thousand local farmers and small businesses took home $2 million-plus in additional sales because of our program, and our 153,000 customers brought home more than 305,000 servings of fruits and vegetables because of our farmers and small businesses. Using the economic multiplier (spending $1 with local farms and food businesses actually generates $1.80 for the economy!), we estimate that this program had more than $4.1M impact for our local economies, in mostly rural and underserved areas where fresh food access is limited.
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2025 came with its own share of challenges. Federal funding cuts in early 2025 put food access and producer programming across the state and nation in jeopardy, including funding for Virginia Fresh Match. Historic cuts to SNAP passed as part of H.R.1 in July, and the pausing of SNAP benefits in November for the first time in the program’s history put additional pressure on families already struggling to make ends meet.
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Our network of farmers markets, farms, independent grocery stores, and mobile markets continue to rise to the challenge, ensuring SNAP customers can choose meaningful, nutritious foods, gather in welcoming spaces, and use their benefit dollars for community good.
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It is with incredible pride in our network partners and gratitude for their essential work on the ground that we share this 2025 impact report.​​​​
Sincerely,
The Virginia Fresh Match Team
2025 Impacts
152 partner
locations
Increasing accessibility to SNAP match across the Commonwealth
$2.2M in SNAP
and VFM spent
Maximizing families’ purchasing power while and paying farmers full-price
$4.1M in
economic impact
Keeping SNAP dollars circulating in local communities
Bringing fresh, local food to families facing hard times
550K meals
provided
1,100 farmers
earned income
​Generating additional sales and revenue for local farmers and businesses
"Programs like Virgina Fresh Match make the market feel like it belongs to everyone."
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— Mollie Slater Romero, Williamsburg Farmers Market Manager
5 Years of Program Growth
2021 - 2025 Impacts
$8.1 Million in SNAP and VFM redeemed, 2021-2025
This means $8.1M in healthy food purchasing power in communities that need it most, through direct sales supporting small farms and strengthening local food systems.
2 Million Meals
Over five years, VFM provided the equivalent of more than 2 million meals. This translates over 7,700 nutritious meals per week.
Partner locations
Between 2021-2025, VFM increased from 90 locations to 152, a 68% increase.
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VFM locations include farmers markets, grocery stores, farm stands, and mobile markets.
$15.9M in Economic Impact
The USDA estimates that $1 in SNAP benefits generates roughly $1.50 to $1.80 in economic activity.
This multiplier effect occurs because funds are spent at local retailers, supporting jobs and being reinvested in the community. ​
SNAP in Virginia
SNAP is the largest and most effective hunger relief program in the country. About 10% of Virginia’s population relies on SNAP benefits to make ends meet.
Who uses SNAP in Virginia?
67%
of SNAP participants are in families with children​
36%
of SNAP participants are in working families
33%
of SNAP participants are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled
​​​SNAP's Economic Impact
SNAP participants in Virginia received $1.76 billion in benefits in 2024.​​ The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.50 in economic activity.
Average SNAP benefit in 2024:
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For each household member per month: $177
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For each household member per day: $5.83​
Even with this small daily amount, research shows that SNAP reduces poverty and food insecurity, and that over the long term, these impacts lead to improved health and economic outcomes, especially for those who receive SNAP as children.
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Data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2025
"Being able to get free fruits and vegetables at the farmers market helps stretch my SNAP. It makes it easier to feed my family healthy food."​
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— SNAP Customer,
Highland Farmers Market
VFM Program Highlight: Harvest Special
In November 2025, SNAP benefits paused for the first time in the program's history because of the federal government shutdown. Virginia Fresh Match responded quickly and launched the Harvest Special. Anyone participating in SNAP who shopped at a VFM location got $20 in Harvest Special bucks to spend on fruits and vegetables.
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SNAP participants went without their benefits for two weeks. Virginia food banks saw a sharp increase in need, with some reporting demand spikes of 20–30% or more during the shutdown. Our farmers and food businesses lost the SNAP sales they rely on in those two weeks.
Cuts to SNAP ripple through entire local food economies, leaving families with fewer choices and small businesses with less income. As household budgets shrink, families often turn to food pantries and other charitable resources to fill the gap.
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Through the Harvest Special, our partners made sure families still brought home fresh, healthy food during the shutdown. The response was huge: we distributed $50,000 in Harvest Special in one month and served an estimated 2,500 customers, demonstrating how essential Virginia’s farmers markets and local food businesses are during times of crisis.
"I have a four-year-old who is on the spectrum, and she's very picky. The $20 bonus was a relief, knowing I would still be able to get the fruits and vegetables that I know she will eat, even without my regular benefits.''
- SNAP Customer
Lynchburg Community Market
Lynchburg, VA​
"The opportunity to extend our community initiatives outside the regular market season showed we have the capacity to serve and empower our community through challenging times.”
​- Historic Manassas Farmers Market
Manassas, VA
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Harvest Special Impacts
40 partner
locations
Increasing visibility, foot traffic, and customer connections
$50K in FREE produce vouchers redeemed
With an estimated $258,000 in economic impact
2,500 customers served
During a time when finances were uncertain for low-income families
537 farms earned income
Providing a boost in sales at the end of the growing season
VFM Partner Highlights
Henry's Produce
Every year, certain VFM outlets stand out for the work they do in their communities and their commitment to fresh food access.
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This year, our partners at Henry's Produce in Duffield, VA deserve special recognition.
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When the only full-service grocery store in their county closed this year, Renee and Henry knew their work would be more important than ever. More than 17% of Scott county relies on SNAP benefits to make ends meet, and the SNAP match program at Henry's produce often means families are able to afford produce that otherwise wouldn't have access, or be able to regularly shop for local food.
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The two make a grand team, with Henry coordinating wholesale produce orders from farms across the region, often driving his truck hundreds of miles each week, picking up produce directly from farmers, while Renee keeps the store running.
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In 2025, Henry's Produce distributed more than 23,600 free servings of produce. Operating a small grocery store in rural Virginia is hard. Each year, mom-and-pop stores like Henry’s Produce are outcompeted and forced to close, despite the important role they play in their communities.
Henry's Produce has leaned into supporting their community, and their community has supported them back in return. VFM is proud to be a part of their story.
Sycamore Spring Farm
Sycamore Spring Farm Market is a small farm stand in Surry, VA, a rural county in eastern Virginia, where farming is the primary industry. Despite this abundance of food, many parts of the county are considered food deserts, and affordable, fresh produce can be challenging to come by.
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Lasonya Slade, owner and operator of Sycamore Spring Farm Market, offers Virginia Fresh Match at her farm stand to not only make fresh produce more accessible for her community, but to increase local food sales. Slade runs her own farming operation, and also stocks her farmstand and stall at the Surry County Farmers Market with produce from other farms in the region.
When her customer base grows, so does her ability to create sales for other farmers in her area, magnifying the economic impact of the SNAP dollars in her community.
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Based on incentives spent, Sycamore Springs Farm provided an estimated 960 meals to SNAP customers in 2025.​​​
Customer Stories
"I am able to get fresh fruit and veggies that help me treat my medical condition at an affordable price. A little goes a long way here!"
- Tamara, SNAP Customer
Martinsville Farmers Market
Martinsville, VA
The VFM tokens I receive at the market allow me to purchase enough produce to make it at least 2 weeks between shopping trips. Because all the produce is locally grown, it does not spoil as quickly as produce from the grocery store, which is great since I don't have a regular ride to the store. I only get $30 in SNAP each month, so $30 extra in free produce goes a long way!
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- SNAP Customer
Spotsylvania Farmers Market at SRMC
Spotsylvania, VA
"We have a large family, and stretching our grocery budget week to week can be difficult, even with SNAP benefits. This program is making a huge difference for our family. I bring the kids every week, and we love cooking the food we get together!"
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- SNAP Customer,
Dale City Farmers Market
Dale City, VA
"We have seen some SNAP customers evolve from in-and-out shoppers to people who stay for nearly the entire time we're open because they enjoy getting to know their neighbors and local farmers. The VFM program helps us create a welcoming and food-focused environment that the entire family can enjoy!"
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- Birdhouse Farmers Market
Richmond, VA
Photos from the Field
Orange, VA
Norfolk, VA
Orange, VA
Orange, VA
Special thanks to our partners:
Blue Ridge Literacy supports achievement of life goals by providing opportunities to strengthen literacy skills to adults in western Virginia.
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VFM is ​thankful for support from Blue Ridge Literacy with translating materials and making VFM information accessible to people across languages. ​
