Harvest Market is first California grocery offering new EBT ‘buy-$1, get-$1’ local produce program

FORT BRAGG, CA, 3/24/23 — The Mendocino Coast’s beloved local grocery company Harvest Market is now the first brick-and-mortar store in California to offer the new “CA Fruit and Veggie EBT Pilot Program,” an initiative that allows recipients of CalFresh food benefits to receive a $1 “incentive” (or refund) for every $1 of California produce they purchase, up to $60 each month. While similar programs have debuted at farmer’s markets (including the Fort Bragg market) and in grocery stores in other states, Harvest Market’s is the only in-store program currently operating in the U.S. 

To take advantage of the program, EBT cardholders can pay for their local produce (marked at both Harvest Market stores with the label “Garden Fresh”) on their cards, and receive an instant refund — no paper or back-and-forth involved. This essentially gives cardholders $60 more each month to purchase groceries.