The Pasadena Certified Farmers Market gives CalFresh cardholders a significant boost at the checkout table, matching the first $15 withdrawn from a shopper’s food account each market day.
“Get more money by using your CalFresh card,” reads the sign at the information booth, where Gretchen Sterling, who has run the program for 45 years, oversees the matching funds process firsthand.
The matching funds come through Hunger Action Los Angeles, a private organization that draws from multiple funding sources. The partnership was originally brokered through the Pasadena Unified School District’s healthy eating section — Sterling noted she was uncertain whether it constitutes a department or a section — which connected Sterling with Hunger Action roughly a decade ago. The program has operated continuously since then.
The process is straightforward. A CalFresh cardholder approaches the information booth, swipes their EBT card — drawing only from their food account, not their cash account — and receives both their own market dollars and the match funds on the spot. Sterling does not request any additional identification. “All I need is their CalFresh card,” she said.
The match is automatic and capped at $15 per market day, though shoppers do not need to spend the full amount the same day. The funds do not expire. “I’ve had people come up and ask me after they’ve had it for months and say, ‘I just found this in my jacket pocket from last spring or last fall and is it still good?’ Yes, it is,” Sterling said.
A key distinction separates the two types of dollars. Regular EBT funds can be used to purchase anything edible sold at the market, including bread, packaged goods, and even plants that produce food. The Market Match tokens — printed on different-colored paper — are restricted to fresh fruits and vegetables only. “It’s real self-explanatory on the dollars. It says this is your money and the match money is a different piece of paper, different color, and it says specifically it is for fresh fruits and vegetables,” Sterling said.
The program runs at both of Pasadena’s weekly certified markets. The Saturday market at Victory Park uses blue match dollars, while the Tuesday market at Villa Park uses yellow ones. Shoppers may use their standard EBT funds at either location, but match tokens are valid only at the market where they were issued.
Participation numbers reflect strong demand. Sterling estimates 60 to 80 CalFresh customers shop on Saturdays, with 40 to 60 attending the smaller Tuesday market. Word spreads largely through social media, existing customers referring neighbors, and walk-in shoppers who spot the booth signage.
Farmers have taken notice as well. “Oh, they prefer to be at markets where there is market match because that means that there are usually families,” Sterling said, noting that families tend to purchase larger quantities of produce.
For first-time users who feel uncertain about the process, Sterling offers a simple reassurance: it works exactly like any grocery store transaction. “You learn that it’s not intimidating and farmers are more than willing to take whatever you give them as payment because the market is going to reimburse them at the end of the day,” she said.
Sterling, who is approaching 80, attributes her own health to four-and-a-half decades of eating fresh market produce. She also points to a benefit she considers central to the farmer’s market experience: direct access to the people who grow the food. “The varieties of fruits and vegetables that you can get at the farmer’s market far outstrips the number of varieties in any grocery store. You also get to learn to who grows your food,” she said.
All vendors at the Pasadena Certified Farmers Market hold a certified producer certificate through the county, which requires that they sell only what they themselves have grown.
Pasadena Certified Farmers’ Market | Phone: (626) 449-0179 | Website: www.pasadenafarmersmarket.org
