CALIFORNIA NUTRITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM EXPANDS TO WIC FARMERS MARKETS – NEW GRANTEES ANNOUNCED

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SACRAMENTO, August 20, 2020 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announces four projects have been selected to receive $300,000 in total grant awards as part of the California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Expansion. The projects were selected through a competitive process in which CDFA received applications for more than 2.5 times the available funding.

Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Visalia, the new CNIP grantees are:
• The Model Neighborhood Program
• Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association
• Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles and Hunger Action Los Angeles
• Visalia Farmers’ Market Association

The four grantees will utilize CNIP funds to double the amount of fruit and vegetables able to be purchased at participating farmers’ markets by shoppers using the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. The WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program provides participants with $28 worth of vouchers. CNIP funds will double that amount to $56 of benefits to be spent on healthy, California-grown fresh fruits and vegetables at participating farmers’ markets.

The California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP) goals are to address food insecurity and access to fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts among low-income Californians while simultaneously supporting and expanding markets for California farmers. CNIP currently offers nutrition incentives to CalFresh (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) shoppers at more than 300 locations throughout the state, including Certified Farmers’ Markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and retail outlets.

CNIP was created by Assembly Bill 1321, authored by Assembly Member Phil Ting in 2015. CNIP is administered by CDFA’s Office of Farm to Fork, which leads CDFA’s food access work.

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