COLUMBIA, MO. (AP) -- A pilot project in Columbia will allow people using food stamps at farmers markets to double the amount of food they can take home without doubling the cost.

The program sponsored by Sustainable Farms and Communities Inc. is designed to encourage people on fixed incomes to buy more more fresh, health food.

Currently, only a handful of people are participating in the trial at the Columbia Farmers Market. It will officially launch in March.

Casey Corbin, executive director of Sustainable Farms, tells The Columbia Daily Tribune that organizers hope to raise $50,000 to fully fund the project.

Corbin and others held a fundraiser Saturday to kick off a fundraising drive. And they will hold community cooking classes and hand out free pots, pans, utensils and cookbooks to needy families.

Click here to read more from the Columbia Daily Tribune.

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