Why SF farmers markets fear end of this state benefit

Thousands of low-income San Franciscans are poised to lose a critical food benefit if Gov. Gavin Newsom’s currently proposed budget cuts pass through the California State Assembly, and local farmers market operators say they’re fearful of the impact in The City.

The Market Match program, started 15 years ago and funded through the California Nutrition Incentive Program, allows recipients of CalFresh and federal food benefits to match daily purchases at farmers markets up to $15 with vouchers.

“People can double the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables they’re buying to bring home to their families,” said Allen Moy, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association and one of the partners in the program.

The program operates at about 300 sites statewide, including San Francisco farmers markets in the Fillmore, Castro, Inner Sunset, Divisadero and Civic Center neighborhoods.

“We’re serving thousands of people per week,” Moy said.

But as the state faces a multibillion-dollar deficit, Newsom has proposed cutting more than $33 million from the $35 million allotted over the next three years for the CNIP.

San Francisco Assemblymember Phil Ting, whose 2017 legislation created the CNIP , said program “cuts would erase the progress we’ve made.”

“The dollars we’ve invested in the program’s initiatives, like Market Match, have eased food insecurity, led to better health outcomes and stimulated the economy,” Ting said in a statement to The Examiner.

Were the CNIP cuts to go into effect, Moy said Market Match would shut down by the end of the year.

“In fact, it would be cruel to reduce the buying power of vulnerable residents now when grocery prices are higher,” Ting said. “I will fight to ensure these Californians can continue to access fresh California-grown food.”

Local officials have responded to the cuts as well, with the Board of Supervisors unanimously passing a resolution Tuesday to call on the state legislature to ensure Market Match is fully funded. Dean Preston, the bill’s author, told The Examiner his office is in touch with Assemblymembers Phil Ting and Matt Haney, both of whom have voiced support for the program.

“The ball is kind of in the court of the legislature to prioritize pushing back and trying to restore this funding,” Preston said. He said Gov. Newsom’s response so far has not been “substantive.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to The Examiner’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Several thousand low-income families throughout California stand to lose matching funds to purchase healthy foods, as do farmers who rely upon the program for extra income.

“I hold it responsible for keeping a lot of our farmers afloat,” said Steve Pulliam, the executive director of Heart of the City Farmers Market in Civic Center. He said the program helped vendors after the market lost customers during the pandemic.

Pulliam said the market lost about 27 vendors due to the pandemic, and he’s worried it could lose more if the Market Match program ends. While he said he’s thankful for Ting’s efforts, Pulliam said he fears the end of Ting’s term could spell the end of the program.

“We’re trying to find another champion,” Pulliam said.

Haney could fill in that role, and he told The Examiner on Tuesday that the program is high on his list during ongoing budget conversations.

“I’ve lived in the Tenderloin for 10 years, and so I’ve met with people from the Tenderloin specifically about Market Match,” Haney said. “The program is a win-win — it supports vendors and small farmers and helps farmer’s markets to thrive, and it’s also a critical lifeline for many communities who otherwise don’t have access to fresh food.”

In the grand scheme of things, it’s a small cost to keep the program running, he said. Right now there are individual budget subcommittee hearings taking place around the proposed budget, and Haney said he’s discussing how to reverse the cut before things are finalized in the next few months.

“The governor is trying to cut in a lot of places, but I think it would be a huge mistake to cut this program,” Haney said.

Pulliam said about 21,000 customers used the program at his farmers market alone last year. Statewide, the total is closer to 500,000, according to Minni Forman, the food and farming program director at the Ecology Center in Berkeley, which runs the Market Match program.

“Everyone should have access to fresh and healthy food in California, where much of the nation’s fresh and healthy food is grown,” she said.

Pulliam said he and his peers anticipate fewer customers at the farmers market if the program ends, adding an unnecessary burden on San Francisco residents already struggling with food insecurity . Some, he said, even worry about whether or not their markets will be able to survive without the program altogether.

“Somewhere between 35% and 50% of the customers are using their EBT cards at the market,” said Kanchan Armstrong, who manages the farmers market at Stonestown mall through the Agricultural Institute of Marin. “So without the Market Match program, I am super concerned about the viability of the market.”