Bonton Farms is rolling out pay-what-you-can markets and deep discounts on fresh produce to ease hunger in a neighborhood long classified as a food desert, while federal SNAP benefits stay locked during the ongoing government shutdown.
The expanded efforts come as residents grapple with delayed aid payments and widespread layoffs.
“There’s already a need when you live and work in a food desert,” Mark Jones, president and CEO of Bonton Farms, told NBC 5 DFW. “I think that the biggest challenge for us in watching is that the need is expanding.”
Through the Double Up Food Bucks program, shoppers using SNAP can double their dollars for fruits and vegetables at area farmers’ markets, including at Bonton Farms.
The nonprofit also operates the Bonton Wellness Center, providing free or low-cost medical and dental services through the Methodist Community Collaborative Clinic.
“We are aware, not just the SNAP benefits, but there are a number of people who lost their jobs, too,” Jones said. “People are beginning to be anxious and feel desperate.”
Workers have broken ground on a new community garden at the organization’s original Valentine Street site, where neighbors will soon pick vegetables at no cost.
The campus now hosts yoga sessions, bingo evenings, cooking classes, and pop-up markets to strengthen ties among residents.
“We are an organization that believes in respect with humility and humanity,” Jones said, per NBC 5. “As the Bible story tells us, the little boy who offered up his five loaves of bread and his fish — we’re just offering up what we have.”
Bonton Farms plans to distribute 400 Thanksgiving meals this month, allowing families to gather at home.
“I implore those to help us, because I see Bonton as a bridge to be able to give people opportunity to cross, and that’s all that we are,” Jones said. “The good news is we can survive this if we work together.”
Volunteer and donation opportunities are available on the organization’s website.