California Fruit & Vegetable EBT Pilot Project

https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/ebt/california-fruit-vegetable-ebt-pilot-project

AB 1811, Chapter 35, (2018), adds Welfare and Institutions Code 10072.3 and creates the California Fruit and Vegetable EBT Pilot Project. The goal of the pilot project is to develop and refine a scalable model for increasing the purchase and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables by delivering supplemental benefits to CalFresh recipients in a way that can be easily adopted by USDA FNS (Food and Nutrition Service) authorized retailers of various types, sizes, and locations in the future. The California Department of Social Services EBT, in partnership with CalFresh, Office of Systems Integration (OSI), and California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) will award three grants to non-profit organizations or government agencies to meet this goal.

Supplemental food benefits will be transferable across any authorized retailer.
Supplemental food benefits can be accrued, tracked, and redeemed by EBT clients in a seamless, integrated process.
The state will set a maximum accrual rate.
There is no expiration date for using the supplemental food benefit; however, these benefits are subject to the CalFresh expungement rules.
Supplemental food benefits can only be accrued by EBT clients through the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables from an authorized retailer.
Supplemental food benefits can only be redeemed to make eligible food purchases from an authorized retailer.
The supplemental food benefits mechanism complies with all applicable state and federal laws to ensure privacy and confidentiality.
Authorized retailers that use EBT-only point-of-sale terminals, such as farmers' markets, and those that use integrated point-of-sale terminals, such as grocery stores, shall be able to integrate the new supplemental benefits mechanism into their existing systems, including the free state-issued hardware provided to certified farmers' markets and farmers.
The supplemental food benefit mechanism will consist of at least a 1:1 ratio match, to be determined by the State.

Participating Farmers Markets

Market Name	Market Address	Planned Start Date
Napa Farmers’ Market	110 West Street,
Napa, CA 94559	Sat 3/18/23
Tue 4/4/23
City of Rialto / Rialto Farmers’ Market	290 W Rialto Ave,
Rialto, CA 92376	Wed 4/5/23
Country Club Plaza Farmers’ Market	2405 Buttano Drive,
Sacramento, CA 95828	Sat 2/25/23
Sunrise Station Farmers’ Market	Sunrise Blvd & Folsom Blvd,
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670	Sat 3/18/23
Atwater Village Farmers’ Market	3258 Larga Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90039	Sun 3/12/23
Adams Vermont Farmers’ Market	1432 West Adams Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90007	Wed 3/15/23

Participating Brick and Mortar Retailers

Retailer Name	Retailer Address	Planned Start Date
Arteaga’s Food Center (4 locations)
• 6906 Automall Pkwy, Gilroy, CA 95020
• 204 Willow Street, San Jose, CA 95110
• 1003 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
• 2620 Alum Rock Ave, San Jose, CA 95116	Gilroy - Wed 8/30/2023

San Jose (Willow Street) - Wed 8/30/2023

San Jose (Lincoln Ave) - Wed 8/30/2023 | | Mother’s Nutritional Center (78 locations) |
• Los Angeles County (28 cities, 48 locations) • Orange County (3 cities, 3 locations)
• Riverside County (7 cities, 10 locations)
• San Bernardino County (7 cities, 12 locations)
• San Diego County (2 cities, 5 locations) | October 2023 | | Santa Fe Foods (3 locations) |
• 860 White Road, San Jose, CA 95127 • 7356 Thorton Ave, Newark, CA 94560 • 1017 North Marin Street, Salinas, CA 93906 | San Jose - Mon 8/7/2023 Newark - Wed 8/9/2023 Salinas - Mon 8/14/2023 | | Harvest Market (2 locations) |
• 171 Boatyard Drive, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 • 10501 Lansing Street, Mendocino, CA 95460 | Fort Bragg – Tues 3/7/2023
Mendocino – Mon 3/13/2023 |