Farmers’ Market L.I.F.E.

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Application Process for Interested Markets

Farmers Market L.I.F.E. (Local Incentive for Food and Economy) is a Market Match program available in Sonoma and Marin counties that makes locally grown, fresh food more affordable to CalFresh (food stamp) customers. The program matches customers’ CalFresh (EBT) benefits spent at participating markets dollar-for-dollar, up to a daily maximum depending on the market. For each $1 that the USDA awarded, we secured $1 in funds or in-kind contributions. Thus, we truly could not do this work without the ongoing contributions of local businesses, agencies, and contributors! Click here to see a list of Sonoma County farmers markets and northern Marin Farmers Market L.I.F.E. member markets.

Market Match is a program of the Ecology Center and is funded in part through the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Watch the video below to learn how the program works for customers.

Participating Farmers’ Markets

Currently, five farmers market organizations are members of Farmers Market L.I.F.E. (FM LIFE).

Click here to see a schedule of all Sonoma County farmers markets and FM LIFE member markets in Marin County.

How can our community help?

  • Spread the word about Farmers’ Market L.I.F.E. to your community and service providers. CalFresh users need to know about this new initiative!
  • Click here to make a tax-deductible donation, or send a check with FM LIFE in the memo line to Petaluma Bounty, 1500 Petaluma Blvd. South A, Petaluma, CA 94952.
  • Leverage your contribution during our next grant application process. Your committed contribution will allow us to solicit a dollar for dollar match from USDA.

History

Farmers’ Markets have offered incentives for CalFresh users for several years, yet the problem was that incentive initiatives started and stopped as markets received intermittent and small awards of funding. In the fall of 2012, Petaluma Health Care District partnered with the Petaluma East Side Farmers’ Market to provide a $10 match incentive for CalFresh users. In early 2013, Petaluma Farmers’ Market Managers met with Program Director, Suzi Grady to brainstorm collaborative opportunities for funding a shared incentive program in Southern Sonoma County. Our goal in working together was to stabilize funding sources and expand the offering to multiple markets in our community.

In August 2014, Farmers’ Market L.I.F.E. started as pilot with initial funding from Sonoma County Health Dept. and Human Services Dept. Petaluma Bounty partnered with Petaluma Eastside and Westside Farmers’ Markets, along with Foodies Project, Petaluma Healthcare District, Kaiser Permanente and other funders to provide up to $10 incentives for CalFresh users at all Petaluma Farmers’ Markets.

In the fall of 2014, Petaluma Bounty reached out to all certified farmers’ markets of Sonoma County to participate in a federal grant application under the state-wide Market Match Consortium, coordinated by the Berkeley Ecology Center. Not all markets were ready, interested, or had the capacity to collaboratively submit an application in late November of 2014.

In 2015, Petaluma Bounty launched the collaboration as part of the statewide California Market Match Consortium led by the Berkeley Ecology Center. Supporters included Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph Health, Petaluma Healthcare District, Slow Food Russian River, Sunrise Rotary Club Santa Rosa, and other donors that preferred to remain anonymous. U.S. Department of Agriculture grants allowed us to expand the initiative.

As of February 2025, customers collectively spent more than $1.8 million in CalFresh and Market Match at FM LIFE farmers markets. That’s more than 3.6 million servings of locally produced, fresh fruits and vegetables on the tables of limited income folks, straight from small to midsize farmers who use sustainable farming practices.

For more information, please see our One-Page White Paper and our Funding Flowchart.

Outreach Initiatives

CalFresh Farmers’ Market Tours

National Farmers’ Market Week

CalFresh Awareness Month

Program goals into the future

This initiative improves access to locally grown produce at farmers’ markets by providing an incentive to CalFresh users. It increases CalFresh users’ purchasing power, the economic viability of local farms, and keeps money in our local economy.

Indicators for impact include EBT Sales, change in the number of CalFresh customers, new CalFresh customers, farmer interviews, number and type of outreach efforts, number and type of food education events held, and educational materials distributed through the market.

The FINI grant funding was awarded to Farmers’ Market L.I.F.E. through the California Market Match Consortium through the end of 2016. Through the fall of 2016, we will work on submitting a new proposal to the USDA and hope to include more farmers’ markets from Sonoma County. If you run a market and would like to participate in Farmers’ Market L.I.F.E., please contact us!

Contact us

If you have questions, ideas for raising funds, or want to learn more, please email Suzi