Twenty years ago, farmers markets were focused on increasing demand, particularly in lower income communities. There was a perception at the time that poorer communities didn’t want local, fresh produce.

“It’s such a myth,” said Danielle Andrews, the Boston farms manager for The Food Project, a youth development organization that manages farms in Dorchester-Roxbury and in Lincoln.

Cut to the 2020 pandemic, when Andrews said there was renewed support for local farms and increasing access to fresh foods in poorer neighborhoods.

“Seeing the amount of time people would spend in lines to get coupons in order to go to farmers markets and buy fresh vegetables — and be excited about what they’re seeing and being able to access [it] — that, to me, was like the proof we needed,” Andrews told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.

The Food Project donates some of its summer bounty and sells the rest at community markets. A lot of their customers use both federal and state benefits to cover the costs, Andrews said.

There is the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, plus the state-funded Healthy Incentives Program. HIP gives extra SNAP dollars to buy produce, seeds and edible plants from participating local farms. HIP used to provide families with up to $80 a month, but was cut to $20 per month last year. The state increased benefits up to $40 a month in the 2026 fiscal year budget.

“We’re really pleased that it’s back to $40, at least for this year, and we’re seeing a big increase in the use of HIP benefits in July versus June,” Andrews said.

This bump in HIP comes at an uncertain time for SNAP benefits. The Senate reconciliation bill passed in July shifts a larger portion of the costs to states and expands the work requirements to individuals ages 55 through 64, parents of minor children ages 14 and up, and veterans. It’s unclear when the work requirements will go into effect.

Combined with the recent cuts to HIP, if people are removed from SNAP it could be a “double hit” for customers, said Andrews.

Allandale Farm on the Brookline-Boston line is also figuring out how to reach its poorest customers who use SNAP and EBT.

“We’ve been brainstorming ways that we can kind of go around that and help community members who are facing food insecurity,” said Allandale Farm manager Michael Montuori.

That includes community-funded shares of Allandale’s Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, which helps the farm during planting season when they aren’t making much revenue. When someone purchases a CSA share at the start of the growing season — a full Allandale Farm vegetable share costs $725 — they can donate an extra amount.

“Every dollar really counts, so some people will donate $5, or $20, $100,” Montuori said. The donated money then goes toward CSA shares for people who couldn’t otherwise afford it.