Love Linda Vista Farmers Market, Ecology Center’s partner in San Diego, Makes Strides to Keep Market Match and Fresh Food Access – GWC Mag

The neighborhood of Linda Vista in San Diego almost lost the Market Match program, a federal and state-funded grant program led by the Ecology Center that provides a dollar-for-dollar match on CalFresh/SNAP spending at participating CA farmers’ markets.

Market Match–a safety net program meeting the growing needs of low income Californians during and post-pandemic–led to the purchase of 38.8 million servings of CA grown fresh fruits and vegetables in 2023, demonstrating that the program is one of the most effective and wholesome ways to address food insecurity in California and support the local economy.

After years of operating the Linda Vista Farmers’ Market in San Diego, the San Diego County Farm Bureau unfortunately had to move to cease operations of the Linda Vista Farmers’ Market in March of 2020 and also close the City Heights Farmers’ Market (which was the inaugural Market Match location in 2010) in December of 2020.

 

Luckily, Love, Linda Vista Inc. stepped up to reopen the Linda Vista market and joined Ecology Center in operating the Market Match program this past year. This has made local produce for five local small farms more affordable while supporting the future of small highly-diversified-crop produce farmers who are the key to ecological sustainable food systems.

Jonathan Widener, President of this farmers’ market, shared what this has meant for his community and local farmers:

When Love, Linda Vista Farmers’ Market joined the Market Match program, the local minority and refugee small farmers at our market doubled their sales of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. The number of EBT customers also increased by triple. We are so happy to participate in this vital resource for our community.

At Linda Vista Farmers’ Market from June to December 2023, shoppers have received $8,600 in Market Match incentives, which matched $9,000 of CalFresh spending on an estimated 35,000 servings of CA grown, small farmer-produced, fresh produce.

To read the 2023 Market Match annual statewide impact report, please click here.