South End Market is taking steps to make healthy eating — and local eating — accessible to more families. This weekend, the market on the corner of South Boulevard and Tremont Avenue will begin accepting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits.

Those using SNAP cards will purchase tokens at the South End Market booth, then exchange the tokens for eligible produce and foods from the market stalls.

“We are proud to be now able to offer fresh, local food to our community members who may not be able to afford it otherwise,” Samantha DeRose, the market’s director, says.

To help those dollars go even further, the market is partnering with Blue Cross / Blue Shield of North Carolina to match what SNAP shoppers spend. For each $1 token a person purchases, they will be given an additional $1 token.

South End Market — formerly Atherton Market — is the sixth farmer’s market in Charlotte to accept SNAP cards. The others are the markets in Cotswold, Davidson, Matthews, Rosa Parks market at Beatties Ford Road, and Seeds for Change market at Romare Bearden Park. —Kristen Wile