Baker, market feud over EBT cards

WALPOLE, Mass., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts baker is in a dispute with the farmer's market where she sells her wares for refusing to take Electronic Benefit Transfer cards for her pies.

Andrea Taber, proprietor of the Ever So Humble Pie Co. in Walpole, said she will not sign on to the Braintree Farmer's Market's program -- which offers tokens to EBT cardholders to purchase goods from the market -- because she does not believe people should be charging her pastries to the taxpayers, the Boston Herald reported Wednesday.

"I don't think American taxpayers should be footing the bill for people's pie purchases," Taber said.

"To me it's no different than nail salons and Lottery tickets," she said. "It's pastry, it's dessert. My pies are great, but come on."

Braintree Farmers Market chairwoman Donna Ingemanson said Taber is the only vendor resistant to the plan and the market may make accepting the EBT tokens mandatory this winter.

"We just thought that people that were on food stamps a lot of times don't have healthy choices," Ingemanson said. "What better chance to buy healthy foods than at a farmers market?"

Taber said she will leave the market if the program becomes mandatory.

"I'm not going to sacrifice my principles and standards for the sake of a few more sales," she said.