Art and Dianne Lingle always have enjoyed visiting the Lawrence Farmers Market, where they wander from vendor to vendor, picking up fresh vegetables along the way.

Now they have extra incentive to make the trip. The Lawrence couple are among 288 older Douglas County residents who receive state vouchers to buy their fruits and veggies at the market.

“It’s great,” Art Lingle said Thursday. “I’ll come more often. We get the home-grown local produce.”

Kansas Secretary of Aging Pamela Johnson-Betts and Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Greg Foley came Thursday to the Lawrence Farmers Market to inaugurate the program here.

“Seniors are able to get, for a little cost, fresh fruits and vegetables that help complement their diet, especially if they’re on a fixed income,” Johnson-Betts said.

Under the program, low-income Kansas seniors receive $30 in coupons from the state to spend at local farmers markets between June 1 and Sept. 30. Vendors who receive the coupons can exchange them for cash at UMB Bank.

Thirty dollars may not sound like a lot for four months, but officials said the money stretched well at the market.

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“For one person, who doesn’t eat a lot of food, $30 can carry you quite a way through the season,” said Emily Miller, coordinator of the Lawrence Farmers Market.

Johnson-Betts agreed. She said coupon recipients told her “they recognize it’s not very much, but they tell me that having anything that supplements what they have is a help.”

A $182,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is making the program possible. More than 6,000 Kansans will receive coupons.

“The biggest benefit is they’re getting nutritious fresh produce into their diets,” Miller said. “It’s the healthiest, freshest produce around, because it was grown within a few miles of Lawrence.”