Vashon-grown fruits and vegetables will be available to more islanders this year, thanks to a program intended to put local produce on the tables of those who might otherwise not be able to afford it.

Beginning next month, the Vashon Island Growers Association (VIGA) will expand its Food Access Partnership and provide vouchers to island nonprofits so staff members may shop for free for their programs at the Farmers Market and farm stands or pass the coupons on to their clients to do so.

“I believe that good food is a right,” said Merrilee Runyan, one of the organizers of the initiative. “We have all this wonderful food on Vashon. We want to spread it around.”

While the Food Access Partnership has existed for several years and stretches the purchasing power at the market for people who receive assistance through federal food programs, this year it is embarking on a more ambitious effort, and hopes to provide $6,000 worth of coupons that nonprofits and their constituents can redeem for island-grown food. Participating nonprofits are the Vashon Senior Center, Vashon Youth & Family Services (VYFS), the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness, the Community Meals Program, Vashon Community Care,  DoVE and La Comunidad Latina.

“Our goal is to get more produce and  fresh food to the people who are most at risk of hunger and poor nutrition,” Runyan said.

She and others on the food access committee, which includes Karen Biondo, Janie Starr and Lisa Hasselman, developed a pilot program last year where they tested their idea, giving coupons to a small number of nonprofits.

Both the senior center and VYFS participated and have praise for the program and its intent.

Senior center Director Ava Apple shopped frequently at the farmer’s market and farm stands for the agency’s lunches, which it provides four times a week for a small fee. Doing so enabled the cooks to offer fresh salads at each meal and feature other vegetables as well.

“Locally sourced, organic produce is a total game changer. That is what everybody wants,” Apple said. “To be able to offer that was a coup.”

While fresh vegetables pack a nutritious punch, they also provided food for thought, she added.

“I would tell the seniors where the food came from, and that would sprout a conversation about memories, how they grew that food, or their parents did, or they remembered that farm from years ago,” Apple said.

She readily used the $600 worth of coupons and would have used more had she had them.

“I could use double that,” she said.

At VYFS, Deborah Rieschl said she gave some of the vouchers to clients of the VIVA program, which helps islanders meet their basic needs, and used some for agency events and groups that clients attended.

In addition to enabling low-income islanders to stretch their limited funds, Rieschl said it was particularly helpful for families who might live in far-flung areas of the island to shop near them at a farmstand. Sometimes, Rieschl added, she shopped with clients using the vouchers, then cooked and ate with them at their homes.

While she handed out all the vouchers, she said, clients did not use them all, a problem she intends to address this year. Instead of making the vouchers available only to VIVA clients, Rieschl said she would like the entire counseling staff to be able to pass them out when appropriate.

“I am so hopeful that if all staff knows and gets the fervor going, they will actually be used,” Rieschl said.

New to the program this year is La Comunidad Latina, a group that started a few years ago to help foster community with members of the island’s growing Hispanic population.

Sally Adam, who is active with the group, said she sometimes hears about families facing dire situations.

“This will help me respond to that need,” she said.

She will also be getting word out about the program in Spanish, she said, including the information about matching funds for those who participate in the food stamp and WIC programs. In fact, Runyan said, the voucher program VIGA is working to expand this year has its roots in that effort.

In 2009, VIGA received a grant to purchase a wireless credit card machine that enabled the market to accept EBT cards (food stamps). It added its supplemental Market Bucks then, and each year since has matched the first $10 EBT customers spend each week with an additional $10 toward their purchase. Last year, it followed suit with the WIC program, which provides food assistance to low-income women and their children under 5. Those efforts have been funded by donations and grants, as is the voucher initiative. Last year it received money from a family foundation as well as a larger fundraising drive. This year, Granny’s Attic provided $800 for the program, and a Guest Bartender Night to help fund the cause is set for next week with the goal of raising $2,500.

The Market Bucks and the coupons benefit not just those who use them for food, Runyan said, but local farmers also benefit, and, in turn, the wider community. Last year, thanks to Market Bucks and the vouchers, $2,665 went back into the local economy, she noted.

“It is a beautiful circle,” she said. “It does bring more business to farmers.”

Harmon Arroyo, the coordinator of the daily free community meals program is looking forward to being fully involved this year, though he stressed he is not sure yet just what that will mean. One option is that the vouchers could go to the volunteers who provide the free meals and help to defray their costs. Details will be arranged soon, he said, and stressed his enthusiasm.

“I think VIGA is doing a wonderful thing, and the implications will widen with time,” he said. “It’s a win, win, win, win no matter how you look at it.”

Many communities try to make local agriculture accessible to low-income people, Runyan said, and many work with social service agencies, but Vashon is the only community she knows of that supplies vouchers for food. This summer, she said, she expects the island will benefit from a recently awarded federal grant meant to put fresh, local food within reach for many low-income people. VIGA will likely use those funds to publicize its incentive programs, Runyan said, and use the funds it is raising to fund those programs.

In the mean time, she said, her committee is working on getting the word out on what VIGA currently offers, has taken lessons from the pilot effort last year and will make adjustments as needed.

“Being an island, we are small enough to that we can experiment and can see what will work,” she said.

At DoVE, whose clients will also benefit from the produce vouchers this growing season, Executive Director Betsy Archambault said she, too, is pleased clients of her agency will be included.

“We will not be stingy with them,” she said about the vouchers. “We want people to eat more fruits and vegetables. Besides, the farmers market has a lovely atmosphere. If people go there and get a little bit of extra happy on Saturday, that is good, too.”

A Guest Bartender Night benefiting the Food Access Partnership will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at The Hardware Store Restaurant. For more information see vigavashon.org.