Nevada County News

For the eighth year the Nevada County Department of Social Services (DSS) will partner with 211 Connecting Point to bring a Market Match Program to local Nevada County Farmers’ Markets.  This year’s the Market Match Program will be offered at three farmers’ markets:

The Market at Grass Valley

• Pine Creek Shopping Center near Raley’s
• Tuesdays June 1^st through November 23^rd, (8:00 am – 1:00 pm)

The Market at Grass Valley

• McKnight Crossing near Kmart
• Saturdays June 5^th through November 20^th, (8:00 am to 12:30 pm)

Nevada City Farmer’s Market

• Union Street in downtown Nevada City
• Saturdays June 5^th through November 20^th, (8:30 am – 1:00 pm)
• The goal of this program is to encourage CalFresh recipients to utilize their CalFresh benefits at our local farmers’ markets to obtain seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables. To do this, the Market Match Program provides token matching incentives to purchase additional produce, in addition to the amount customers spend with their own EBT dollars. Some reasons why one would prefer to get their produce from a farmers market as opposed to the larger grocery stores or unpermitted folks is:
• Peak freshness, ripeness and taste: Produce is allowed to fully ripen in the field. Produce is often picked the day before or even the same day, allowing produce to achieve maximum flavor
• Wide variety of produce: Be able to find unique produce not often found in large grocery stores. Heirloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower and other specialty produce are things you commonly find at a farmers market.
• Support local family farms: large farms dominate the commercial food production system. Shopping at farmers markets keeps our local family farms sustainable and our money local.
• Knowing where your food comes from: meet the farmer that actually grew the produce you are about to consume. Talk with the farmer and learn how and where the food was grown brings a much more personal approach to eating food.
• Read more!