Businesses Benefit from the Food Stamp Program

The Food Stamp program is advantageous to the businesses that accept EBT cards, as well as to those holding the cards. In the Lower East Side, a neighborhood that despite an influx of gentrifying people still has many poor residents, Viva Fruits and Vegetables in the Essex Market is just one example of a business benefiting from its participation in the Food Stamp program. Fresh and exotic produce is found at a bargain at the stand and in the market. The manager of Viva, Sobeida Delacruz, said "We get lots of EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer for food stamps) cards." Delacruz estimates that 70 percent of the stand's business comes from the food stamp program.