The new State of Michigan budget includes $5 million to continue a project that helps SNAP customers get more for their food assistance when shopping at participating grocery stores and farmers' markets. 

The program, known as Double Up Food Bucks, launched in 2009 in Detroit and has since expanded to nearly 250 participating stores and farmers' markets across the state. Michigan Bridge Card holders who receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are automatically eligible. The SNAP program is the current version of what was once known as food stamps.  

There are similar programs on a regional level in some other states.  

"We're happy to see this level of continued support for a solution that benefits everyone," said Kate Krauss, CEO of Fair Food Network, which helped launch Michigan's program. 

The intent is to assist SNAP clients with the purchase of healthy groceries in the form of fresh produce. But Double Up Food Bucks also boosts the economic impact of grocery shopping for farmers and retailers, Krauss said. The renewal of the program received bipartisan support in Lansing, she added. 

Double Up Food Bucks matches fresh fruit and vegetable purchases made via SNAP on a dollar-for-dollar basis, up to $20 per day. Customers can request trade-up tokens at a designated booth at a farmers market or ask a checkout clerk what the process is at a particular grocery store. 

Most of the participating sites are independent or regional retailers, and they include dozens of locations in Southeast Michigan.