Rallying for CalFresh Nutrition Access
On March 18, nearly 50 farmers market operators, farmers, customers, and allies gathered in Sacramento to advocate for continued funding for the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP). Over the course of the day, this group met with 25 state legislators and their staff to stress the importance of funding CNIP in the state budget currently being developed and debated in Sacramento.
CNIP is a program operated by the Office of Farm to Fork at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. CNIP funds nutrition access programs throughout the state through a series of partnerships with nonprofit organizations and farmers markets. The largest and most impactful of these partnerships is Market Match.
Market Match allows families enrolled in the CalFresh nutrition assistance program to increase their buying power and the quality of their food purchases when they shop at a participating farmers market. Customers use their CalFresh-EBT card to purchase scrip — such as paper vouchers or wooden or metal tokens — from farmers markets. They can purchase as much scrip as they like, and their CalFresh scrip is matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $15 per week with Market Match scrip. While their CalFresh scrip can be used on any CalFresh eligible product – including farmers market favorites such as eggs, bread, or hummus – their Market Match scrip can only be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.
Because all the Market Match partners – nearly 300 of them statewide – are certified farmers markets, all the fresh fruits and vegetables eligible for purchase with Market Match scrip are grown in California, by California farmers. Since 2015, the Market Match program has supported over $130 million in purchases from California farmers. By keeping these dollars circulating within California, Market Match is also an economic driver, supporting an estimated half of a billion dollars in economic activity over the past 10 years.
State funding for CNIP also makes the state of California eligible to seek federal funding for Market Match. Between 2015 and 2025, the $70 million invested into CNIP by the state of California has unlocked over $30 million in federal funding – a return on investment of over 40%.
This is the second time that the farmers market community has publicly rallied to sustain CNIP funding and the Market Match program. In 2024, the Save Market Match campaign successfully advocated for $35 million in funding in the state budget. All those funds have now been committed, with the current Market Match funding expected to run out by April 2027. Without additional funding, this proven and vital program will be forced to cease operations.
PCFMA is one of the founding members of what is today known as the California Market Match Consortium. Every PCFMA farmers market accepts CalFresh and participates in the Market Match program. In 2025, CalFresh and Market Match supported over $1.3 million in sales at PCFMA’s farmers markets.
PCFMA’s Executive Director, Allen Moy, was among those who participated in meetings with legislators on March 18. He was joined by two PCFMA Board members – Michael Hohenthal of Go To Chocolate and Juli Figone of BR Beef – who sell at PCFMA’s farmers markets. “I was proud to have two of PCFMA’s Board members participate in these meetings in Sacramento,” Moy said. “Although neither of them sells fresh fruits and vegetables—and therefore do not benefit directly— they shared how vital Market Match is to the farmers market ecosystem as a whole.”
Moy said programs like Market Match are important for supporting farmers and other farmers market vendors, and for supporting the communities served by those farmers markets. “PCFMA believes that farmers markets work best when they are community hubs where everyone is welcome,” he said. “Market Match helps to ensure that farmers markets are affordable and accessible to everyone in the community, regardless of their means.”
To learn more about Market Match and to express your support for sustaining Market Match through continued funding for the California Nutrition Incentive Program, visit: SaveMarketMatch.org
