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Farmers’ Market Program

The State of California’s Farmers’ Market Program started as a demonstration program in 2003 to support Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) in nontraditional markets, such as farmers’ markets, produce stands, and similar open-air markets. The Farmers’ Market Program is now implemented statewide, and current participation includes farmers’ markets, individual produce stands, fish vendors, and flea markets. This successful program continues to grow in participation.

Farmers’ Markets
Farmers’ markets can be run by a variety of entities: cities, counties, nonprofit or for-profit businesses. Often, an organization is operating multiple farmers’ markets with varying hours and locations.

Scrip
To participate in the Farmers’ Market Program, markets are required to use a scrip system for food stamp transactions within the market. Scrip is a currency, in the form of paper or tokens (wooden or plastic), designed to be unique to each market, in denominations of $.50 and/or $1.00. Clients can use their EBT card to purchase scrip with food stamp benefits on their EBT cards from the market at a central location, and then use the scrip to purchase food stamp-eligible items from farmers at the market. At the end of the day, farmers are reimbursed by the market for the amount of scrip they received.

NOTE: A market must have its scrip approved by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) before they can participate in the Farmers’ Market Program. The specific requirements can be obtained by contacting the CDSS Farmers’ Market Specialist at (916) 654-1421 or (916) 651-0674 to request a “scrip package.”

Transaction Process
There are three possible ways for a farmers’ market to process an EBT/scrip transaction:

• Wired point-of-sale (POS) device
• Wireless POS
• Manual Vouchers

Wired POS Device
Standard wired POS devices are provided by the state and are available to all California retailers participating in the federal Food Stamp Program. A wired POS device requires an electrical outlet and an analog telephone line.

Wireless POS Device
A battery-operated version of the standard wired POS device, it does not require a telephone line or an electrical outlet. If a market does not have access to a telephone line and/or electrical outlet, the market may be issued a wireless device. Because a wireless device is more costly than a wired device, the deployment of a wireless device to a market must be approved by the CDSS.

Manual Vouchers
In lieu of a POS device, markets can use manual vouchers. A manual voucher is a small paper form completed by the market and the EBT cardholder. It includes the food stamp transaction amount, the market’s name and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) number, and the cardholder’s name and EBT card number. The voucher is signed by both the market and the cardholder. The market’s cashier calls a toll-free telephone number to verify the funds are available in the client’s account and is given an authorization number, which is then written on the voucher. A hold is placed on the client’s food stamp account for the amount of the transaction. The market has 15 calendar days to submit the voucher to J.P. Morgan Electronic Financial Services, Inc. (EBT Prime Contractor) for reimbursement, or the market can clear the voucher through a POS device.

Information
For more information on how to participate in the Farmers’ Market Program, contact the EBT Project Office at (916) 263-4300.