For the eighth year the Nevada County Department of Social Services (DSS) will partner with 211 Connecting Point to bring a Market Match Program to local Nevada County Farmers' Markets. This year’s the Market Match Program will be offered at three farmers' markets:
The Market at Grass Valley
Pine Creek Shopping Center near Raley’s
Tuesdays June 1st through November 23rd, (8:00 am – 1:00 pm)
The Market at Grass Valley
McKnight Crossing near Kmart
Saturdays June 5th through November 20th, (8:00 am to 12:30 pm)
Nevada City Farmer’s Market
Union Street in downtown Nevada City
Saturdays June 5th through November 20th, (8:30 am – 1:00 pm)
The goal of this program is to encourage CalFresh recipients to utilize their CalFresh benefits at our local farmers' markets to obtain seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables. To do this, the Market Match Program provides token matching incentives to purchase additional produce, in addition to the amount customers spend with their own EBT dollars. Some reasons why one would prefer to get their produce from a farmers market as opposed to the larger grocery stores or unpermitted folks is:
- Peak freshness, ripeness and taste: Produce is allowed to fully ripen in the field. Produce is often picked the day before or even the same day, allowing produce to achieve maximum flavor
- Wide variety of produce: Be able to find unique produce not often found in large grocery stores. Heirloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower and other specialty produce are things you commonly find at a farmers market.
- Support local family farms: large farms dominate the commercial food production system. Shopping at farmers markets keeps our local family farms sustainable and our money local.
- Knowing where your food comes from: meet the farmer that actually grew the produce you are about to consume. Talk with the farmer and learn how and where the food was grown brings a much more personal approach to eating food.
In 2020 CalFresh customers were able to match $13,836 of funds. This helped the local economy by bringing an additional $27,672 to our local farmers. Due to this success, the program will continue with the same incentives as the previous years. When CalFresh recipients come to the Market Manager’s booth at any of the three eligible farmers' markets and show their EBT card and photo ID, their EBT tokens will be matched up to $10 at each and every market for the entire season while funding remains.
211 Connecting Point's successful collaboration with Nevada County DSS over the past eight years with this program has continued to increase the amount of EBT dollars being spent in our community at our local farmers markets. Connecting Point also assists with CalFresh outreach at the Market Managers booth, providing information on the CalFresh program and how to apply.
Contact Nevada County DSS today to find out more about the CalFresh program at (530) 265-1340, or apply online at C4Yourself.com or GetCalFresh.org.
