Quick Take
For the past 15 years, the Market Match program has doubled what SNAP recipients can spend at local farmers markets on fresh fruits and vegetables. Now, the state is considering withdrawing its funding.
One of California’s most vital food programs could end in 2025, threatening hundreds of low-income Santa Cruz County residents.
Every week, Market Match allows thousands of people using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits – the modern equivalent to food stamps – to stretch their dollars at local farmers market by matching a designated amount with additional funds. People receive their benefits via an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card.
Currently, the program matches what participants spend at the farmers markets each week using their EBT cards, up to $15. So, for every $15 participants put toward fresh fruits and vegetables, the program will pay $15, allowing people to essentially double the amount of food they’re able to buy.
The program has supported millions of Californians over the past 15 years, but the state proposed slashing its funding from the state budget in 2025. Now, local farmers market organizers are sounding the alarm.
Nicole Zahm, educational outreach coordinator for Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets, says Market Match is vital for both customers and small local farms. Not only does it put locally grown produce on the table for local SNAP beneficiaries, it also directly supports small farms. In 2023, more than $300,000 from Market Match spending was distributed at SCCFM’s five markets in Live Oak, Felton, Scotts Valley, downtown Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz’s Westside.
Zahm estimates that 40 to 250 customers use Market Match at each of SCCFM’s markets. Jesus Madrigal, who manages the Watsonville farmers market on Fridays, says 30 to 60 people use the benefits at that market, depending on the season.
Losing the benefits would “make a huge difference,” to those local families, Madrigal said. “They can buy a lot more produce and eat a healthier meal with the program.”
Market Match is also accepted at the seasonal El Mercado farmers market, operated by the Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley in Watsonville from April through October, and at the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets’ Saturday market in Aptos. It’s available at 294 sites throughout California, and led to $19.4 million in statewide spending in 2023.
In his January 2024 budget plan, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed cutting $33.2 million in benefits from the state’s budget in 2025, thus effectively ending the program once its current funding runs out.
Zahm and other organizers are encouraging community members to sign a petition to preserve the program. A statewide coalition to save Market Match is working with lobbyists to bring its many benefits to the governor’s attention.
One of the best things about the program, says Zahm, is its direct approach. “It just says, basically, ‘We will give you extra money, if you spend it on whole foods,’ and people are really receptive,” she said. “The evidence shows that that can really change people’s behavior and their sense of food security.”
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